Dead Like You
by readingmama
Summary: Twilight characters in the Dead Like Me Universe. (Don't need a knowledge of DLM) Isabella Swan thought she could get away from the life that was planned for her. What she got was a death that would be repeated far more than she ever wanted. Saddled to follow around the one that killed her in the first place, she does her darnedest to make the most of her afterlife.
1. Preface-The Story of Death

We do not own Twilight, that belongs to Ms Stephenie Meyer. And we do not own Dead Like Me, that comes from the genius mind of Bryan Fuller.

A/N-

VM- Welcome to this new story. It is completely finished and has taken over two years to write. Chapters will be posted weekly. Cella Cullen and I batted around this idea and it took a life of its own, and now we are happy to share it with you. It's taken so long to write, Cella doesn't even have a fanfic profile anymore, but she has been a trooper in finishing this so we can share it with you all.

You do not need to be familiar with the TV show Dead Like Me to read this, but if you've never seen the show, you are missing out. (Large sections of this chapter are taken straight from the show)

We would like to thank Acrosstheyskyinstars for beta'ing this fic, and to Lyricalkris who also did some beta work on some of the first draft. Both of these ladies are also amazing authors, so make sure you check them out.

The banner(s) have been made by Cella Cullen and are also amazing so make sure you check them out.

**Preface**

_**The Story of Death**_

My name is Isabella Swan. I'm seventeen years old, and I'm going to tell you a story - a story that was passed on to me at the beginning of my afterlife. You heard me right, but I don't want to tell you the story of my afterlife...yet.

The story I want to tell you is the story of death.

It all began at the dawn of time. God was creating the universe and everything in it. The worlds, earth and water, light and dark, life and death. That's right, God created death, but he didn't release it upon us at its creation. No, that was done by accident.

God originally sealed death in a clay jar that he gave to Toad to care for. Toad graciously accepted his new job and was proud that God would trust him with such an important task. Death was safe in Toad's webbed feet. Unfortunately, it didn't stay there.

Frog was excited by Toad's job and wanted to help guard death. Frog was young and naive, though, and Toad was a moron for trusting him. Once Frog had the jar, he began to jump around and show off. The jar tumbled to the ground, breaking open and releasing death.

Ever since that day, all things had to die.

Kind of makes you want to go out and kick a frog, doesn't it? I sure wanted to after I heard that story.

What, you don't believe that a frog dropped the jar? Or that the jar existed in the first place? Well, trust me, it did.

I didn't want to believe it at first, either; there were a lot of things I didn't want to believe. Basically everything I once thought was make believe has become a part of my life. I am a reaper, and my division is supernatural deaths, or Jasper Whitlock's kills, to be more precise.

Nothing can ever beat what you see in the SN division. That's the Supernatural Division. Souls are taken so fast that we have more reapers than any other division in existence.

Well, normally they are taken fast, but then again, my vampire has never been normal.

That, of course, is part of my story. In order to understand my story, you'd have to understand his story, Jasper's story. Without Jasper, I wouldn't have a story to share.

Without Jasper, I wouldn't have met him, and without him, I would never have learned what it meant to truly live.


	2. Chapter 1-The Story of being Killed

**A/N- VM- Welcome back. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and favorited. One thing I didn't mention last time was Cella has written the Bella POV and I have written the boys, (in case you were curious on the breakdown). Major love to Acrosstheskyinstars for her beta work.  
**

I give teasers on my facebook page (Tiffany Vampmama Phan Fikshun) as well as in the group: Fanficaholics Anon: Updates. I also will give teasers to those who review (non anon, obviously.)

My heart goes out to all those affected by the Boston bombings. Hug your loved ones.

**Chapter 1-**

_**The Story of being Killed**_

Isabella Swan

Wide, scared brown eyes stared back at me from the reflecting glass. The girl before me was terrified of what was about to take place, and I knew her fear all too well.

"Isabella, darling, you're trembling," my mother stated as she worked the wooden brush through my mahogany-colored locks.

I wanted to tell her I was fine, but I couldn't lie. It's not that I had always been an honest person. Rather, anyone who spent longer than a few moments with me could tell when I was saying anything but the truth. My betrothed, the man who would soon take me as his wife, was probably the only person at church today who I would be able to lie to without being caught.

Perhaps my father was right; perhaps I was lucky that I was going to be wed at all. I tried to convince myself of that as the women around me placed the veil in my hair and tied the sash around my waist. A small gust of air burst forth from my lips as the material pulled tight against my body, making me look remarkably thin.

Too thin.

My hips were too small; that was what several of the men my father had tried to marry me off to had said. In this day and age, women were only good for one thing: birthing children. Down in the South boys were a necessity to maintain our way of life. My hips would never allow for the birth of a boy, not without complications; the local midwife had assured me of that.

Men wanted women who could have dinner on the table while nursing a babe that had been popped out only hours before. No man in his right mind would ever take on a wife who would be a burden during pregnancy.

Mr. Busch was not in his right mind.

That was what Momma said, at least. Mr. Paul Busch had agreed to take my hand in wedlock. The old pervert had wanted to wed one of my younger sisters, but they actually had child bearing hips and already had men lined up. He was forced to settle with me. According to my father, I was supposed to count my blessings that he was willing to put up with me.

So I did. I counted my blessings, all the way to church.

One, he was a hard worker, so maybe he would be too tired to bed me.

Two, he was old, so maybe he would die soon.

Three, the war was still taking place, so maybe he would get drafted.

Four...

I couldn't think past three.

Why couldn't I think past three?

My father took my shaking hand as my mother and sisters entered the church before me. This was it. This was the last day of my life. After today, I would live his life, and despite how short that might have been, I didn't want it.

I didn't know what it meant to truly live, but somehow I knew that walking through the doors into that church wasn't the answer. Suddenly, it became hard to breathe. I didn't know if it was because the dress became too tight, restricting my airways, or if I was having a panic attack.

"Daughter, are you well?"

My head moved back and forth as I clutched my chest in an attempt to calm myself. I was fortunate my father wasn't great with comforting women. My mother would have asked what was wrong and talked to me in a soothing voice while quickly ushering me to my fate. My father, in contrast, released my hand before saying he'd get me something to drink. The separation as he left to get me my water was exactly what I needed.

My legs gave out from beneath me as my eyes turned towards the sky. Internally, I begged for God to save me. To give me an out. To show me some way that I could escape this fate. I had never believed in true love, but at that moment I asked the good Lord to prove me wrong. There had to be someone out there for me, someone that wasn't Paul.

A whistle from behind me caused me to look towards the forest. A bird was the source of the noise. It was flapping around the tree tops before diving down to hide in the thicket. What I would have given to be able to hide as it was doing...

And then it was as if my prayer had been answered. I knew what I had to do.

Hide. I would hide.

I couldn't be forced to marry him if they couldn't find me. It was more than just hiding, though. I knew once I left that I wouldn't be able to return. I would need to escape. Escape this life that had been set in stone for me in order to carve my own oath for the future.

I didn't have time to think about it, I simply acted. My hands fisted the material of my gown, raising it slightly to keep my feet from becoming tangled in it as I pushed myself back up off the ground, and then proceeded to run. I left the entrance of the church as fast as my legs could carry me. I didn't have anywhere to go nor did I have a plan, but for the first time in my life, I felt like I at least had some control over my destiny.

If only I had known then how wrong I was.

~~DLY~~

The voices calling for me had died off hours ago. At first,I felt bad when my mother pleaded for me to answer her if I was alive. It was when she screamed out how worried Paul was that I decided to ignore her and made my way deeper into the forest. My dress was ruined, by my mother's standards. Personally, I thought it looked better than before.

"Freedom," I whispered to myself as I laid down on the moist green grass. Only the sounds of the birds above me and a stream nearby could be heard now. I found a tiny opening through the canopy of trees in the sky and looked towards the heavens.

The place where I finally decided to stop and rest was absolutely wonderful. The quiet stream that ran through the forest not only allowed me a chance to quench my thirst, but also offered me a way to cool down after my run. Soon, I peeled away the heavy material of my wedding apparel as fast as I had my old life.

I had chosen to ditch the veil before even entering the forest; I was almost certain now that it was how my family knew to call for me in here instead of searching in the small town we lived. All I had left to remove were my shoes and the gown itself, or rather what was left of it. Most of the lace and frills had caught on tree limbs and bushes during my impromptu hike, causing them to be severed from the cream-colored material. The only links to what should have been my life lay drenched and discarded on the ground beside me while I basked in the sun's rays.

"Well, aren't you a sight." A clearly feminine voice startled me from my rest.

My arms instinctively went to my chest, shielding my bosom from the intruder. She just chuckled at my actions. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and her dark, chocolate eyes seemed to hold some kind of a secret in their depths. She shook her head and smiled as she approached me. My hands instinctively reached for my gown, wanting to cover myself from this stranger.

"There's no use hiding yourself. It's nothing I haven't seen before, Isabella," she laughed.

"How do you know my name?"

My eyes squinted as I tried to force my mind to recall where I might have met this woman before. She didn't look like one of my mother's friends or anyone else I had ever met in town. She just shrugged before replying that she heard the search party calling out for me earlier that morning. I stiffened at her words. Was she here to take me back?

I wouldn't let her! I only had my freedom for a few hours. I didn't want to give it up ever!

"I'm not going back," I declared.

Apparently, she found my statement funny because she gave me a small smile before reaching out to run one of her fingers down my cheek. "I'm not here to take you back, Isabella."

As if to emphasize her point, she pulled her hand away and began to leave. She was already a good few feet away when I finally managed to ask, "Then why are you here?"

Her steps never faltered as she looked over her shoulder, giving me one last answer before disappearing into the tree line. "I'm just walking through. Enjoy your day, Isabella. Enjoy it like it's the last one you'll ever have."

A shiver ran through me, and I was sure it had nothing to do with the breeze against my skin. I decided that if she could find me, it wasn't wise to linger. Although I hated to do so, I pulled my gown back on. It was sadly the only clothing I had with me.

~~DLY~~

The forest was just as wonderful as I had first assumed. Besides protecting me from an unwanted marriage, it also provided me with a wonderful snack when my stomach began to growl. The fruit I pulled from the lower branches of a peach tree was some of the best I had ever tasted. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay here forever, but with the peace and quiet, I had plenty of time to plan for the future.

It was several hours before the sun set, and I had enjoyed my day. I had enjoyed it so much that I almost forgot the stranger's odd behavior. Of course, how she had acted was nothing compared to the women I met later. Their eyes were redder than any apple I had ever seen, and their smiles sent fear down my spine instead of calming me the way they should have.

"What do you want?" The words sounded much braver than I felt. A small part of me hoped they were simply here to drag me back home, but somehow I knew that wasn't the case.

"Oh Nettie, she's perfect!" one of the women said as if I couldn't even hear her.

"P-perfect for what?" This time I couldn't hide my fear. The words were just barely able to come out before one of the women managed to grab hold of me. I felt as if I was in a daze. I hadn't even seen her move. One moment she was whispering with the other two, and the next...

Her lips barely brushed my ear as she whispered complete nonsense to me, "Shh. Quiet down, young one, you should be thrilled. Your sacrifice is going to help us win our war."

My screams ripped through the air. I thought surely someone would come to my aid when they heard it, but then we were moving. My shock was all that kept me from trying to escape, though a part of me wondered if it would be possible to escape from women who seemed to move faster than any horse and buggy I had ever seen before.

Time passed, though I have no idea how much. At some point I must have passed out, because when I came to I was in a room with five others. From the looks of them, they were a family. The husband held onto his wife and children, cowering in the corner. At first, I didn't know what they were afraid of, but I found out soon enough.

The door to what I now know was a barn opened. The woman I recognized as Nettie came in with the same evil grin. "Well aren't you lucky. You'll get to be the Major's first."

I wanted to ask what she was talking about, but she grasped my wrist and began dragging me before I could say anything. My first reaction was to pull away, and when I couldn't, I screamed. I screamed bloody murder. My head searched around me for help, and although I saw many faces, none of them came to my aid. On the contrary, they seemed to be enjoying the display before them.

With one final shove, Nettie released me into the hands of another woman. She, too, had red eyes that were completely unnatural. Her black hair swayed in the slight breeze, and something about her screamed authority. If anyone could get the others to release me, it was her. She said something as her fingers caught my chin, forcing me to turn my head back and forth. All I could hear, though, was the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. Even her touch seemed wrong to my body.

"Please, let me go." I had meant for it to be a demand, but fear was now coursing so hard throughout my body that it came out as nothing more than a plea.

The women seemed to find just as much enjoyment from my situation as the onlookers. I couldn't make out the words, but I could tell they weren't going to release me. The newest woman even mentioned something about a snack before I recalled being told I would be a sacrifice. I mustered all the strength left in my body, and made one last demand to be women simply smiled before leading me to my death.

The last moments of my life were spent with me staring at a pair of dark red, hungry eyes. The face surrounding them was pale, and the golden hair that framed his eyes only barely registered in my mind before I felt a pain worse than anything I could have ever imagined.

**Jasper Whitlock**

I excelled at everything I did. I read before any of my siblings, I learned to ride horseback long before I could walk, and I even lost my virginity to Margaret Saunders before my peers had grown hair on their privates. Everything in my life had gone my way, and I had no intention of it ceasing.

At age twenty, I was the youngest major in the Confederate army. I had lied to get enlisted, but lying had worked for me in the past (just ask Miss Saunders) and I refused to feel any guilt over it. Of course, her Pa was also a good enough reason to lie; last I'd heard was he was trying to find me with the serious end of a shotgun. But the truth was I wanted to fight. It was a cause I believed in, and it meant something to me.

I had just left a small town, the plague had hit hard and several other soldiers and I had gone door to door to evacuate. I had always thought of the glory of my position would be in fighting and killing the enemy. I learned that night that sometimes the glory was found in the small things. My goal would be the same but my motivation was changed that night. I had people to fight for.

My horse became skittish but I urged him on, thinking of the little boy who I'd taken from the small home. Both parents had already been claimed but he appeared to be healthy. I searched for someone to take him, to stay with him as they were being evacuated so he would not be left alone. When his neighbors had recognized him, they took him in an instant and swore to me to care for him. Instead of taking a life, I had saved one, and it created a sense of pride that was new to me.

My horse nearly reared before I saw them. I had no idea that the three beautiful women before me would stop my perfect life and turn it into a living hell. Even if someone would have warned me, I would have laughed them off as crazy right up until the moment the beautiful brunette, who called herself Maria, sunk her teeth into my neck.

Pain followed - massive amounts of pain. I had been trained to endure some forms of torture by the army, but they were nothing compared to what was now upon me. Flames licked my skin as I thrashed and screamed. I was burning in hell for my sins. Had I not just saved a town? That little boy? Was my pride too much for salvation? I prayed to be forgiven for lying to get into the army. I prayed to be forgiven for deflowering Margaret Saunders in her father's home, and I prayed to be forgiven for my pride. When the praying produced no results, I cursed. I cursed God, I cursed the world, I cursed that little boy and I cursed mankind, and yet it was I who ended up cursed.

Words tore through my lips; things I would have never uttered in polite company now seemed more than necessary. I was long past grace and manners as my body slowly died while my mind stayed fresh.

When the burning finally slowed in my body, it grew in my throat. By the time I reopened my eyes, I felt as though I had dragged my way across a desert and was in need of an entire lake to quench my thirst.

"It burns," I wailed, my voice sounding foreign to me. I expected it to come out raspy, the way my parched throat felt, but it came out clear and ringing, like a bell.

"Hush, Pet," a female cooed. In a flash, I was upon her, moving impossibly fast to defend myself from the woman that had tortured me. I grabbed at her arms, pinning them over her head. My body was on top of hers and her hands had barely hit the floor when I was being pulled back by four strong arms.

They held me to the wall, and I was surprised to see that it wasn't two strong men as I had assumed, but two women. The same ones that had accompanied the monster who bit me. I struggled, and though I felt stronger than them, they twisted my arms in a way that left me immobile.

"What are you?" I growled. A fierce sound ripped through my chest, and I knew the question should have been 'what are we?'

I could tell she was amused by me but also a little wary. I didn't know how I knew, but I felt it and it gave me hope that I would live.

She gave a pointed look at the two women holding me against the wall and took a step forward. The closer she got, the lustier I became. I had no idea where this feeling came from or why it would trump my fear of her, but it almost seemed as though the emotion was being pushed on me from all directions.

"I don't want to fight you," she purred, stepping closer to me and placing her body against mine. Her brazen nature spurred mine.

"I can tell that, ma'am," I replied, looking down at the heaping mounds creeping out of her dress. Her attire was bolder than the women back home and I couldn't help but appreciate it. In fact, there were several reactions it seemed I couldn't help.

"You're fun," she said before rising up and placing a kiss on my neck. "I have a feeling you'll be of great use to me, Mr. Whitlock."

She took a step back, and with her went the lust I felt, replaced by the burning in my throat. The girls released me and I did not attack again. I would need these women for answers, but first I needed something to drink.

"I am terribly thirsty," I said before remembering my manners, "could I trouble you for a glass of sweet tea?"

"That won't quench your thirst, but I will get you something that will," she replied. "Fetch something for Mr. Whitlock to drink, Nettie."

"Of course," the other woman replied before leaving the room.

It was not long until I heard a woman's scream. My instincts were to run and help, but Maria told me to stay put…that she would bring the young woman in for me in a minute. She laughed as she said this, but the joke was lost on me.

I found it odd that I was able to hear the four of them talking outside, but I decided it was due to poor building and thin walls.

"Oh, you'll do nicely," Maria said.

"Please, let me go," the unfamiliar voice wailed.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," laughed Nettie.

"Yes, I believe you will make a nice snack for my new pet. He is very hungry."

"I don't know what you are talking about, but you need to unhand me now," the voice responded.

I felt frightened for the girl, but I pushed that away. They said they would bring her to me, so I didn't fear for her life. Instead, I willed myself calmer and immediately responded to the internal suggestion. I had always been good at controlling my emotions.

When they brought her in, they all seemed very calm.

Then I caught scent of her. She held heaven and the only thing that stood between me and it was her skin. She didn't even have time to scream before I had her in my arms and my teeth locked where her shoulder and neck met.

Each pull was better than the last as her blood came flooding into my mouth. The nectar was sweet and it soothed my throat as it slid down. I no longer needed Maria to answer my question. I knew what I was. A vampire.

I dropped the body to the floor, only now noticing that she wore a long white dress. She looked as if she had been dressed as a sacrifice. I looked up at Maria.

"More," I said, "Oh God, I need more."


	3. Chapter 2- The Story of Being Undead

A/N- Thanks everyone for reading. Super hearts for our beta Acrosstheskyinstars.

There are teasers for reviewers.

**Chapter 2-**

_**The Story of Being Undead**_

Isabella Swan

It's a wonder how the five stages of grief seem to apply to everyone, even if you're the one that's dead. It had all happened so fast that at first I thought it was a dream. One moment I was suffering the worst pain of my entire existence, and the next...

I was standing there watching it.

That's right, watching it!

My eyes widened as I saw a blond man, in uniform, clutching my lifeless body to his mouth. I screamed, but no one heard me. I wasn't sure how I was both in his arms and watching myself at the same time, that was simply a detail, though. I must have decided I had just lost my mind, and it wasn't my body he was holding, because soon the only thought I had was to run.

Without a single backwards glance I took off, denying what I knew had to be true. Common sense told me to keep moving and search for help, and so I did. Somehow the sound of my own voice became more comforting than that of complete silence, and so it wasn't long until I found myself verbalizing each and every one of my thoughts.

"This has to be a dream. Yes, a dream...but then why have I not woken up yet?"

This led me to pinching my arm as well.

"So then this is punishment for not obeying my parents. Those three women were obviously demons. I should have paid better attention in church, then I'd know what I'm supposed to do now that they've attacked me...they couldn't have attacked me though..."

Even as I spoke aloud, I could tell something was off. My voice sounded off. It did not carry along the wind, it was as if the only one who could hear it was me.

I refused to believe what my senses were telling me. "I'm here- so that back there, that wasn't me. That couldn't be me because then I'd be-"

"Dead?" the semi-familiar voice caused my head to jerk up. She was sitting on a wood pile with her head cocked to the side.

"I'm not dead!" I screamed, the anger rising from within.

She was the stranger- that stupid, rude woman who had interrupted my peace earlier that morning, and now here she was, trying to cause even more trouble.

"Of course you are, Isabella, but at least you're not tied to that creepy old pervert who was waiting for you at the church, right?" She paused, but I didn't know how to answer her. Here she was, one moment saying I'm dead and the next joking about how pathetic my life was going to be anyway?

After she realized I wasn't going to reply, she sighed in exasperation, "Think about it logically for just a moment."

I wanted to tell her nothing about this situation was logical, but she continued on before I could speak. "You were just in a house with a man that drank your blood, and then you were standing over your body watching him drink it. If you weren't dead, then how did you get out of there? Surely he would have seen you, correct?"

"He was distracted," I argued even though I knew she was right.

"Fine, let's for arguments sake say he was distracted. Explain to me how you ran out of a building without opening a single door?"

My mouth opened, and then closed. I had opened a door, hadn't I? I couldn't recall it now. All I knew was I had been in a rush to leave so I had. I wanted away from there so I got away, but how? In my mind, I had thought I was running, but looking back I couldn't see any way I could have run the distance I did in the time I had.

If I didn't know if I opened any doors, how did she? Who was she? How could she see me if I was dead? None of that mattered because in that moment, I realized the most important fact: she was right.

I, Isabella Swan, died in that house.

I died, and somehow, she knew I was going to. Her words from by the stream echoed in my head. She was somehow associated with death. An angel? Maybe. God? Unlikely. She was not, however, normal, and now I was convinced that she could fix this.

"Look, I'll go back and marry Paul. I'll even wear that stupid veil if you'll undo this." She rolled her eyes before jumping off of the wood stack and grasping my hand.

"Come on, it's time we get out of here."

Out of here? Was I moving on already? I hadn't even lived yet! I still had years ahead of me! The reality of my situation sank in and I followed her blindly as my vision was obscured by the tears pooling in my eyes.

Eventually we came to a stop. The curious stranger released my hand and I was sure it was my time to move on. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I looked for the clouds and stars my mother assured me I would see in heaven, but found none. I was standing in front of an old farm house. The front door opened and a man walked out, followed closely by a girl who was even younger than me.

"Kris, you're back," the man called before coming forward to pull the stranger beside me into his arms.

I now knew her name was Kris, and from the fact that she called the man she was embracing Jackson, I was pretty sure that was his name. Kris and Jackson talked and hugged, and at one point, he hitched her leg around his waist while pressing her back against the farmhouse wall. I wasn't sure if they forgot my and the other girl's presence or if they simply enjoyed acting in such unacceptable ways.

My mind went back to how easily Kris had invaded my personal bubble before my death. As a result, I found myself wondering if she was some sort of demon and this house was hell. Surely I had been a good person in my life, hadn't I? Just because I didn't want to wed Paul Busch didn't mean I deserved to be condemned!

"Isabella!" Kris's voice snapped me back to what was going on in front of me. The she devil and her lover seemed to have broken from their embrace, and apparently she had been trying to introduce me for a few moments while I was lost in my own thoughts.

"I think you've made a mistake," I said, hoping to explain that I didn't belong here.

"A mistake, darlin'?" Jackson questioned. His voice and eyes dripped of lust and only confirmed my suspicions that they were, indeed, demons. Nothing that tempting could ever be good.

"Yes I'm...a...umm." I bit the inside of my cheek as I searched for the right words. I didn't want to insult them, but they were demons, after all, so perhaps they would understand. "I am a good person. I rather think I shouldn't be here."

"Where do you think you should be?" Kris questioned as she came forward and wrapped her arms around Jackson's waist. My teeth sank into my bottom lip as my eyes looked towards the sky. She must have caught the hint because soon Kris' familiar laughter rang through the air.

"Sorry child, but there will be no harps playing or clouds for you."

"But I'm a good person! You can't condemn me to hell!" I screamed, which only triggered more laughter, this time from the man she held onto.

"Don't flatter yourself, darlin'. You're not interesting enough to go to Hell," he said while kissing Kris' forehead before retreating back into the house.

"If I'm not going there," I stated while pointing towards the sky, "and this isn't Hell, just what am I supposed to do?"

"Well..."

~~DLY~~

We talked a lot that night. I found out that Kris, as well as Jackson and everyone else in the house were, in fact, Death's workers, not Death itself. That wasn't the worst of it, though, no. The worst part was when they explained that I would be joining them -that I was now a grim reaper. My new job was to pop souls. You heard correctly - pop.

"How am I supposed to pop a soul?" I questioned the room at large, after Kris had abandoned me. It was only a few minutes after entering the house that Kris decided she needed, and I quote, _'a break from dealing with you_.' Personally, I was pretty positive that she and Jackson had some magnetic force pulling them together because they seemed to be unable to keep their hands off each other.

The young girl who had come outside upon my arrival rolled her eyes then walked out the front door while the words 'waste of time' floated into the room behind her. It was an older man who decided to answer me. His name was Nicholas.

"Don't mind her. Her best friend moved on today, and we all deal with these things in our own way."

I nodded my head as my mother had taught me to do. It was only after he gave me a questioning look that I realized I had no idea what the motion was supposed to mean. Was it a way of saying, "yes, I understand?" If it was, then it really was inappropriate at the moment because quite frankly, I didn't understand. The only person close to me who had ever died was, well...me. Technically though I wasn't really dead, was I?

I didn't have to wonder about it too long. Nicholas delved right into explaining the process of soul popping, which really just meant touching the person who was going to die, or has already died, in order to release their soul.

"That's the easy part," Nicholas said. "The hard part is finding them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we get lists every morning. Don't ask where they come from, we don't really know. The list will tell you whose souls you're popping, their approximate location, and how long of a window of opportunity you'll have to find them in." His calm voice almost had me convinced that it was normal to talk about killing people off.

"If we're given all that information, how could it be hard to find them?" I bit my lip to keep from asking what I really wanted to know. Which was: what sort of special gifts did being a reaper come with? Didn't being a grim reaper mean that we would magically be able to appear where needed and know exactly who was about to die? If that was the case, then why would we even need lists?

"Oh, you'll see. It's hard to explain, it's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. Speaking of experience, you'll need to pop the soul before their demise or else you might end up having to get a new body, and that's one experience I can guarantee you won't enjoy."

And that's how the questions continued on and on throughout the night. I learned everything I could, from everyone who was willing to share information. I was a member of the Supernatural Division – yes, division. Apparently death had many categories, and you got assigned to your division based on how your own death played out. I was, as Kris so kindly informed me, an appetizer for a newborn vampire.

I didn't worry too much about that, though. Finding out vampires existed only made sense after learning I was a grim reaper. My death was a pretty common one amongst the reapers. We were all assigned to the vampire that killed us. Kris's vampire was Maria, the woman who had me fed to Jasper. Since she had changed Jasper into a vampire, Kris said it was her job as Maria's reaper to pop my soul, as well as the rest of Jasper's kills, until I was ready to start working.

Each reaper had an assigned number of souls to collect. How many, exactly, we weren't told, but once the number was completed, I'd be able to move on. I voiced my concern that I wouldn't be able to collect enough souls before going mad, but Jackson kindly informed me not to worry. Most of Maria's newborns were killed after only a year or two of life.

"So if she kills Jasper, am I just stuck here for eternity? Or do I get assigned to someone else?"

"Neither. You move on," Jackson answered.

Just like most things in life, death had its loopholes, and despite the fact that my life had ended so fast, I was relieved to know I wouldn't be stuck in this afterlife for long. Kristina believed we were the lucky ones who got a second chance to live. She told me to enjoy each day while doing my job. It explained why she and Jackson seemed so passionate when we arrived. They never knew if the other would fill their quota or have their vampire killed off. Each moment they had together could easily be their last, and they were determined to make the best of each of them.

Jasper Whitlock

I fought in Maria's army and learned from her all I could. She controlled me for a while with my own lust, but it was not to last. Once I discovered that I had come into this second life with more power than the regular vampire, I knew this was just one more thing I needed to succeed at. However, she was stronger than I gave her credit for, and it didn't take me long until I felt beaten.

I had the ability to feel and control emotions, but you can never truly take away someone's fear when they are dying. Instead, it felt as though my soul had to eat it up - that was if I still had a soul. I doubted a creature such as I could carry such a gift from God. But if I was made to kill, then who was I to question the divine plan? I had no plans on ever finding out if I was still soulful; I wanted to live.

Peter was a strong fighter and good company, and I was proud to have him work by my side, even if I was no longer proud of the work I was doing. I tried to cling onto the memory of the little boy in the town, but with time even he faded, and it was for the best. He was the closest thing I had to a friend at the compound. One of the few who survived through the newborn stage, he was not gifted as I was, but he did have the ability to fight well. Apparently he also knew how to keep secrets. I had never felt the connection between him and Charlotte until the day I was ordered to kill her. She had shown no potential, and as with the others like her, Maria had ordered me to destroy her. He hid his feelings from me even as I ordered him to bring her and the other selected newborns to the barn while I prepared.

I had a routine for these slayings that kept me alive. The newborns were strong, and it was important for me to be at my best. I found myself near town looking for the person who would help me in my quest. When I began, I thought the stronger the specimen I had, the better and stronger the blood would be. It didn't take me long to realize that it was all the same; a petite woman could quench me just as well as a bear of a man.

I was in a hurry, so when I saw the young man on the edge of town, I was over to him in a flash. The sun was shining so I was hard to miss. The man was not frightened of me at first. The euphoria he felt told me that my sparkling body had misled him into thinking I was an angel coming to claim him. The euphoria disappeared as soon as my teeth sunk into his neck. He was dead a minute later. I hoped his angel was waiting for him on the other side.

As I dropped the body to the ground, I caught a slight movement in the nearby trees. Brown hair disappeared, and I chased after it. Maria made it very clear that humans were not to discover us; letting a witness go was punishable by death. I nearly laughed as I saw her stumble through the trees, trying to get away. She only took a few steps before she stopped and turned around to face me.

The annoyance on her face matched the emotions pouring out of her. She must have known she was in danger, so I wasn't sure why she stopped running. Where was her fear? It mattered not, and having extra blood in me would help when I went about destroying the newborns later, so I approached her. Every once in a while I fed from a human like her - completely at odds with what they should be feeling. They were always women; I decided long ago that women must be the only ones intuitive enough to see the end and come to grips with it so readily.

I was not callous, though. I did not taunt her or try to bring about the fear. I placed my arm around her body in almost a lover's hold and sunk my teeth into her. A small sound escaped her mouth, but that was all the resistance there was. The blood flooded my mouth and I enjoyed its flavor. I had tasted blood like hers before. It wasn't that it was anything special, more like familiar.

I disposed of the bodies and headed back to the compound. Peter was waiting for me but he didn't seem himself. We began to dispose of the newborns and when I told him to retrieve Charlotte, he yelled, _"Run," _and they took off.

I debated on whether to tell Maria that they had fled. While I had no real affection for Charlotte, I wouldn't relish killing Peter. I spared but a moment of hope for them - that they would find their way to happiness.

When I reported to Maria that night, I counted them among the dead.

The following five years were tough on me. I no longer had it in me to make friends. Maria became distrusting and ruled with an iron fist. I had wondered on her sanity when she ordered me to kill Nettie and Lucy not long after I was changed, but it came to a point that I was the only one she would allow to live longer than eight months. The newborns were cattle to her, and she willingly sent them to slaughter.

I never knew if she kept me alive because of the calmness I could give her. She was always so at war with others, and with herself, that even though I no longer brought her pleasure - the lust became a game between us, and neither gave more than our bodies - I was still able to ebb the pain for her.

I took to resting on the hillside, looking over the compound in the mornings. My body didn't need the break, but my mind did. It was quiet on the hill, and my emotions were my own there. I had been so used to negative emotions that I didn't even read Peter and Charlotte until they were nearly in front of me.

I crouched down defensively, knowing they could be here for revenge.

"Peace, brother," Peter called out. And it was with that word I understood the foreign emotion that he was emitting; it was indeed peace. I had hardly recognized it, and when it swirled over me, it had soothed me like nothing I'd felt in years.

Peter and Charlotte were elated as they told me of their new life, far away from the wars. I was wary at first but they won me over quickly with their sincerity. Things were much different in the North; they were free. When they asked why I didn't hunt them down, I was honest and told them that I couldn't bear to hurt my only friend.

They asked me to come with them - to leave Maria and make our own way. Peter was grateful that I had let them go and wanted to repay the favor. I agreed instantly.

We left Maria's camp immediately. The idea of getting out of the war was enough to convince me, but it was the feeling they had in them, the one I wanted so badly, that spurred my feet on. I knew that it was only a matter of time before Maria ordered me dead. I could only fuel her lust for me while I was with her, but each time I rejoined her, I could feel her distrust. It brewed while we were apart, and it was becoming unstoppable. When Peter and Charlotte showed me an out, I was inclined to take it. I might have been able to kill Maria, but I just wanted to be done.

I spent many years traveling with my friends but it didn't take long to realize that two is company, and three's a crowd. They were mates and belonged together, and although they accepted my companionship, I knew that having it every day wore on them. But that wasn't why I chose to go off on my own. The emotions were weighing on me. Every time I ate, I breathed in the fear and the loss; hunting with Peter and Charlotte tripled that climate.

So I bid adieu to my friends and went off on my own. Being on my own seemed to make things worse. Without the gentle company of my friends, all I had was the terror that was pushed on me by my victims. I would stop eating for weeks, but then, ravenous, I would kill several in a night. I needed it to stop.

For the first time in either of my lives, I was ready to die.


	4. Chapter 3- The Story of Moving

A/N- Big thanks again to Acrosstheskyinstars for her red pen.

Reviewers get teasers!

**Chapter 3-**

_**The Story of Moving**_

Isabella Swan

Life at Reaper farm was nice.

Unlife?

Afterlife?

Whatever it was, I enjoyed it. With the exception of having to help a few souls move on to the 'pretty lights' my existence was... peaceful? Productive?

So I didn't know the right word for it, but it was good.

The number of reapers living in our house varied day after day. We were not the only supernatural reapers in the world; we were not even the only ones in our state. We were simply the only ones in our area.

Despite the vast number of reapers that lived there, the house was never crowded. Someone, somewhere, at any and all times, was dying. That meant that we were never all in the house at the same time. Some divisions might not have had the constant rotation of shifts that we had, but they also didn't have to take vampire souls.

Vampires killed each other more often than humans. It really complicated things. We constantly had new reapers appearing and then disappearing before ever having time to pop a single soul. Soul popping was something that took a while to get used to, though. So it was relieving that not all new reapers had to be trained to do it.

It was also frustrating for reapers like Kristina. She was responsible for popping the souls of every person Maria killed as well as any her 'creations' killed, at least until the new reapers were trained. That's why she'd popped mine. It wasn't normal reaper protocol. In fact, she told me that if we were any other division, my becoming a reaper would mean she would move on, but we had special circumstances.

It was interesting how easily I had learned to disconnect from the idea of death. I no longer felt pity or remorse for those who died young, or left behind loved ones. It was simply my job and they had arrived on time for their appointments.

Everyone that's born has an appointment with death. Most of the time, it never changes, but every once in a while, a person might do something to postpone their appointment or get an earlier one. Regardless, we all die.

Bodies decompose, but souls move on. What the souls look like when that happens, though, depends on us, the reapers. Popping, or releasing a soul before their death, allows them to maintain that appearance in their afterlife, as well as saving them the pain they felt right at the moment of their death. When I first heard that, I wondered how my popping had saved me any pain. It was a pretty awful experience, after all.

Though from what I had learned from the others, that was a common occurrence with our type of deaths. Perhaps that was what bonded us. It seemed no matter how long or short of a time we had together, we all managed to get along. We had a family unit of sorts.

It was almost soothing in its predictability. Most evenings you could find Jackson sitting on the porch strumming his guitar while Kristina sat beside him, her head resting on his shoulder. Nicholas would be inside spinning tales about his best reaps for the newest members of our group. A few reapers would be huddled together, mourning the loss of a friend, while at the same time celebrating that the other reaper was able to finally move on.

Myself, though, I would go over the newest lists that had arrived that day. Jasper had lasted much longer than the original two-year mark I had been told about, and I had met him more than my fair share of times. It was inevitable.

Nicholas told me if I did not get to the soul before their demise, I might end up having to get a new body. He didn't tell me why I would need one. He also didn't mention that it would hurt, badly.

The first time it happened was on my very first assignment. I had been lost and could not figure out where I was supposed to be. I didn't see the woman whose soul I was supposed to take until Jasper had already begun to drain her. The fact that I had managed to walk away from Jasper while he killed me the first time gave me this belief that I was invisible. Which I was, up until Kris had taken my hand that night. No one bothered to tell me that the living and vampires alike could see me.

Jasper wouldn't have caught me, though, and I would have figured out that I was indeed visible on my own, if I had not gotten lost on my way to the victim.

H. Potter

On the outskirts of Reddington

Estimated time of death: Twilight

Window of opportunity: Thirty-two minutes

Last thought: "What will mama say?"

The location was beyond annoying. Kristina laughed as I showed her the cursed information on my list that morning. "Well, what do you expect?" she had asked while I glared at her in response.

What I had expected was to have some internal feeling that would pull me towards the person whose soul I needed, but I learned very quickly things just didn't work that way. Fastening a bonnet around my head, I made my way towards the small town of Reddington.

Nicholas had a kill not far past there so we shared a horse. He dropped me off at the town's border, which I later learned was so that we did not draw too much attention. While the people in the town would not be able to recognize me, that didn't mean they could not see me. Being a reaper was a lot like being human. I had a body, I needed rest, and I craved food. In fact, the only real differences were that I couldn't technically die, and could possibly outlive them all, if Jasper managed to not get himself killed.

Reddington was a large town, and "the outskirts" did not tell me much at all. My blisters had blisters as I wove my path around trees and attempted to find Potter. It was twilight when I saw her. I knew she was the victim the moment I laid eyes on her. Her neck was bent at an odd angle as Jasper drank greedily.

I had over a half hour window to pop her soul, yet it wasn't enough compared to the amount of ground I was forced to cover. I was outraged. The anger blinded me just long enough for me to cross the distance between us.

I barely managed to graze my fingertips across her back before his teeth went from her throat to mine. It hurt. It was the most excruciating pain I had ever felt before. My mind worked at lightening speed as my hands uselessly pawed at his hold on me but I couldn't fight him off.

I didn't have some superior strength. I wasn't invisible to vampires. I didn't even have some magical blood that knocked him out cold long enough for me to escape. The world around me faded to black as my muscles shut down. I had everything sucked out of me and stupidly thought it was actually the end. The last thoughts in my mind before I died the second time was that at least it was over.

Once there was no chance my body could heal itself, I reappeared a mile away from my old body with the woman whose soul I had popped a bit late standing next to me. I was freaked out, but she was even more so. She cried and pleaded with me to let her live, to give her her life back, and as much as I wanted to, I knew it wasn't possible. We eventually found a place near the stream to sit and talk. Well, she talked, I listened.

She told me about her mother and the fact that she wasn't suppose to leave the house that day, but went against her wishes anyway. She talked about the man that had been courting her, and about her pet dog she feared would miss her terribly; once she was completely talked out, they appeared. I'm not sure what they looked like. It wasn't for me to see.

She claimed they were breathtaking. She found her lights and moved on. I hadn't gotten to her in time, though, so the evidence of how she died was eternally visible upon her neck. I felt a stab of guilt in my stomach as the last thing I saw was that crescent shaped mark before she disappeared into her afterlife.

I asked Kris that night how Jasper had seen me. She laughed, before taking pity on me and filling me in on that mystery. She then filled me in on the fact that I had gained yet another appearance.

Well it wasn't so much as telling me, as inadvertently mentioning it. When I told her that Jasper had drained me, she asked if I had seen what my new self looked like yet.

I didn't know what she was talking about. It was then that she handed me a reflecting glass. She then went into detail about how she loved seeing each of her new appearances, because she liked knowing what the non-reapers saw when they looked at us.

"You know, just before you came we had this reaper that was so vain, she'd purposefully get herself killed if she didn't like what she saw in the mirror. Can you imagine that? I mean I'm not entirely pleased with the nose I got along with this body last week, but-"

It was there that I had to stop her.

"Last week? But- you don't look any different."

Kris just giggled before patting my head, "Of course I do, just not to you. You're a reaper, sweetie. We see each other as we really are. We see the truth."

It was after her conversation that I picked up the small hand-held glass and began to inspect what the rest of the world saw. It was odd. The girl in the glass wasn't me. Despite the fact that my eyes and hair color were brown, they weren't mine. For one moment I tried to remember what I looked like before I died, but after watching so many others die, I just couldn't picture my own face.

I shared my concerns with Kris and she assured me that if I was around long enough I would get to see me again. "On All Hallow's Eve we look like ourselves again. It can cause a bit of trouble, but it is nice to be able to look in a pond and not wonder: who is that girl?"

Time passed and I got better, but nothing was perfect. Jasper caught me several times, and instead of fearing him, I just grew annoyed. How many times would he 'kill' me before I could actually move on? I no longer worried about what I looked like. What did it matter when I would end up with a new body again at some point and time anyway?

Jasper was insatiable, so when Tiffany had been created, I was confident I would reach my quota soon, and I didn't even try befriending her. Tiffany lasted longer than the others, though, and as a result, became one of my best friends. She was even there with me to hold Kristina the day that Jackson moved on. The moment was bittersweet. While both Nicholas and Jackson had been looking forward to seeing what lay ahead, Jackson hadn't expected to go without Kristina.

From what we had learned about the vampires, we had been under the impression that Maria was friends with Lucy and Nettie, the women that Jackson and Nicholas reaped for, so it came as a shock when Maria and Jasper were responsible for their deaths. We didn't interfere even though it was unjust. It wasn't our job to change fate.

Kristina threw herself even more into her work after that. She never voiced it, but I knew she was determined to reach her quota and be reunited with the man who had claimed her heart. I wasn't too worried about it. Jasper was a killing machine. The odds were great that I would reach my quota soon, or at least that's what I thought.

Seventy-five years after I began my afterlife, Tiffany and William received a notice that they would be moving. That came as a shock to us all. Vampires are created. Vampires eat. Vampires kill. Vampires die.

They didn't move!

It seemed that nobody gave Peter and Charlotte the memo because my best friend was going to leave me to follow them. Reapers apparently go where their vampires go. My life didn't seem so nice anymore. I didn't feel free. I suddenly felt like I had the shackles around my wrists again. I was tied to a man.

Not a husband, mind you, but I was still tied to one. Jasper and I had a very different sort of relationship. Most women slept with the men who ruled their lives. Jasper, to my knowledge, didn't sleep, and instead of him claiming my body, he claimed my blood. Sure it wasn't a regular occurrence, but he certainly had been responsible for more of my "deaths" than any other vampire. So yeah, it was kind of like a marriage. I gave, he took. I, Isabella Swan, was at the beck and call of Jasper Whitlock, even if the bastard didn't know it.

Each night I prayed that I would be able to move on metaphorically before he got the bright idea to follow Peter's example and move in the literal sense. My prayers were in vain, though I'm not sure why I was surprised. I never did seem to get what I wanted, only what others wanted for me. It was roughly five years later that I found myself staring down at a list with a location several hundred miles away.

"How am I supposed to get there?" I screamed out in frustration.

This just wasn't fair. Jasper was leaving Texas and I was responsible for following him. Unlike what some people might assume, reapers don't get paid. I had already learned that we didn't have any superpowers, meaning we needed money to travel just like anyone else.

"Don't worry, Isabella, we have some friends that will get you there," Kristina told me before giving me a friendly hug and sending me on my way.

Those friends turned out to be reapers from the plague division. One of them got me a free ticket on a train going close to where I was heading. They were very friendly and told me not to worry about paying them back. Apparently they hadn't done much of anything since smallpox hit the country and so had plenty of time to build up their bank accounts.

Once I got to my new destination, Tiffany and William were kind enough to give me a place to stay, but I knew it wasn't permanent. So when I wasn't reaping Jasper's kills, I started working. Sure, we couldn't die, so technically we couldn't starve to death, but not eating was very hard. Not sleeping was worse, and I knew that a time might come when I would not be able to rely on others to provide me with those comforts.

I had a small amount saved up by the time I had to move again. This time, though, I wasn't able to settle down. I was forced to live off of my meager savings, as Jasper moved over and over again. It seemed Jasper was determined to just keep going, and in order to pop the souls before he destroyed the bodies, I had to remain two steps ahead.

The envelopes managed to find me no matter where I was. I didn't have the supernatural powers the envelopes did, but I still managed to find work, other than popping souls that is, to supplement my steadily dropping savings. Each time I was able to stop for anything longer than a day, I would search the nearest town for any positions available. It was hard, to find people willing to hire a stranger from out of town, but I managed to get by.

It wasn't until I began to give up hope on ever eating a decent meal again that things began to change. There had not been a single envelope in almost a week, when I started working at a small diner in Philadelphia. Jasper's last kill was in West Virginia, so all I could do was hope he would keep heading North and I wouldn't have to backtrack when the next envelope finally arrived. I had already realized that Jasper was killing less frequently, which gave me more time to work normal jobs and to feel almost human again. Things like that don't last, though, they never do.

I recognized her as soon as she came in. She was pale white, her movements too graceful; the only thing off about her was her expression. She didn't have that look, the one I was used to seeing from her type. Despite the hopeful eyes with the odd coloring and calm expression, I could see what she was, a vampire. My heart sped up a tiny bit, but not from the fear that she would kill me. I'd died enough times by now to get past that fear. No, I feared she would cost me my current body before I could get what little was saved in my coin purse back to my temporary home.

The petite woman sat at the counter, in my section. It was as if destiny was laughing in my face. I didn't see any of the familiar tell-tale signs of a reaper sitting amongst the rest of the diner so I knew she wouldn't kill any of the humans, for now. That didn't mean she wouldn't drain me. With one steadying breath, I began to approach her while hoping she wasn't here for dinner.

**~~DLY~~**

She was back, again. Each day she ordered a soda and a small sandwich. She had been coming in each day for three weeks. I knew what she was. It didn't matter that she never took her eyes off the door, it didn't matter that she had not so much as attempted to take a bite out of me or anyone else, she was still a vampire, just a very odd one.

Jasper had killed almost two weeks ago, but it was a bit further South than the dinner. The pay and tips were good, so I figured it couldn't hurt to stay a little bit longer. I was tempted to quit that first day the tiny vampire came in, but changed my mind when I counted that day's take.

Day after day I said a prayer that she would have moved on, but she kept coming back. Now I simply expected it. She didn't pay attention to me, and I didn't pay attention to her. The only hard part about knowing Jasper would kill again soon was realizing that with leaving the odd vampire behind, I would also be losing out on my biggest tipper.

The day was coming to an end, and with a casual glance I could see the little vamp sitting at the bar tearing her sandwich into pieces. What a waste; the cook here was pretty good. I had finally made up my mind to go ahead and move North again once my shift ended, when it began to pour outside, and he walked in.

I didn't have to worry about Jasper getting too far ahead of me. Without an envelope nearby I just knew that he would be feeling up on his fall back again...me.

Jasper Whitlock

It had been eleven days, six hours, and three minutes since I had eaten last. I was getting better at holding off but I began to wonder, at what cost? Was I really saving anyone by waiting so long to eat that I needed to gorge myself? I was only doing it so that their emotions wouldn't poison me, but it was already too late. The poison was in my core, the venom pushed it through my system. The depression became worse and I tried to stay away from town as much as possible, only going in to eat occasionally. This was one of those occasions.

I made my way into town just as the sky opened up. A storm hit, and although I was not comfortable in buildings with humans, I knew standing out in the rain would attract attention, so I ducked into a tiny diner.

I smelled her immediately, another of my kind. She hopped down from the high stool at the counter and made her way over to me. Part of me panicked. I didn't know if she intended on attacking me, but her emotions were a mix of different kinds of happiness, a cornucopia of feelings that I had never experienced.

She was petite and immaculately dressed; I had never seen one of my kind who looked so—human. She was at ease with her surroundings, and I wondered if that was even possible, but the most astonishing thing about her was her eyes. Golden in color, rich like honey and sparkling like a bride on her wedding day.

"You've kept me waiting a long time," she said.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," I responded automatically, ducking my head.

She held out her hand and I took it without a second thought, and for the first time in almost a century, I'd felt hope. I had nearly forgotten what it felt like, and the most amazing thing was it was coming from me. It had been a long time since I had felt anything but despair and depression, it felt more foreign than the strangers' emotions I collected.

Along with the positive emotion came my hunger. I found myself looking around the diner for something to eat; the irony was not lost on me. The young brunette girl behind the counter caught my eye but the small pixie in front of me stopped me from moving.

"Jasper, you don't want to hurt her," she said, her soprano voice demanding my attention without trying.

"How do you know my name?" I asked warily.

"I know a lot," she replied cryptically before taking my arm in hers and leading me out of the diner.

The lady wasn't bluffing. Alice, as I learned was her name, had so much knowledge of me that I would have felt threatened if it wasn't for my ability to read nothing but support from her. She had premonitions, or visions – as she liked to call them – that told her where I was going to be that day. Alice was also sure that we were mates. The idea would have almost been humorous to me if it wasn't for the fact I could sense her unconditional love for me.

She told me that she had seen our future, and while I wasn't sure if I could fall in love with the tiny vampire before me, the life she laid before me was tempting. There was a family, and Alice had seen them open their doors to us and take us in. The most intriguing part of all was that they lived off animal blood. Never in my existence had I even considered such a thing but the idea of not having to feel my prey's pain as I fed was a wonderful dream. What struck me as even more amazing was that Alice had been following this diet from the start. She woke up with the vision of her and me with this family and she had set a goal never to consume human had admitted to slipping just once, while having a vision of me feeding; she had attacked a young man on the edge of town. I felt awful but she didn't blame me, not even a little.

I had been wrong about one thing. Alice was incredibly easy to fall in love with. Her fresh spirit and her unbridled passion for life was so foreign and so enticing, I couldn't help but find myself madly in love with her before we reached the Cullen home. Never had I met a person, man or woman, so sure of herself. Of course I learned it came from her ability to see the future. It was simple to be right when you had already seen yourself win the argument. Of course, who would quarrel with such a fine lady? But part of that was she could see when I was about to use my mood manipulation to my benefit and she'd call me on it, usually with a surprise attack that resulted with me on the ground and her hovering over me. It was hard to be mad in such a position.

Along the way, Alice told me all about the Cullens. They lived more like a family than a coven, with a man named Carlisle in the patriarchal role. His mate, Esme, was presented as the mother of the family while Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett were passed off as their adopted children.

"They didn't always live like that though," Alice informed me, "when it was just Carlisle, Edward, and Esme, the two used to live as brothers."

I ate up each and every word Alice spoke. She told me stories about the family as we traveled and I had never even imagined a life like that was possible for our kind. I yearned for the type of existence, although I never knew how hard it would be to maintain.

I started on the animal diet as we journeyed. I had asked Alice if we could take our time finding the family as I wanted to be well adjusted to the lifestyle before we met them. I was worried they wouldn't accept me, and that mattered to me more than I wanted to admit.

Deer tasted like feces, foxes and wolves were barely edible, and the only things I found worth sinking my teeth into were mountain lions. Alice was very supportive but she didn't really know how hard it was for me. Even when she tasted, she knew she was wrong and her guilt had sullied the taste to her. I had drunk for decades, decadently, knowing only that as my truth. Every time I drained an animal, I could remember the taste of human blood, how much sweeter it was, how it stopped the quench in my throat, even for a moment. Animals filled my belly but not my thirst.

I really was trying my hardest, but it seemed that each time I got on a good roll and was in control of my thirst, something would tempt me and I'd slip. One time there was a pretty brunette that tripped in front of me and scraped her knee, and another time a dark haired girl sliced her finger on a piece of paper, both causing me to drag them to the nearest bush and drain them. The familiar taste of human blood was thrilling but left me with the same guilt I had experienced before.

An unfamiliar sense of failure washed over me and the foreign feeling was not one I liked. I had always been successful in everything I did. Even doing the bidding of Maria, I was the best, but suddenly I was presented with a challenge I didn't know if I could overcome. I didn't like it.

I wanted to be better but it seemed that every few weeks I would slip up and take a life. Alice became frustrated, although she tried to hide it. She could never seem to have a vision of me draining anyone. She chalked it up to my desire not to do it and how last minute my decision was. Alice thought maybe it would be better to find the Cullens right away, that maybe being around more animal drinkers would give me the support I needed to stay on the wagon. I was past doubting her, so I went willingly.

When we arrived at the Cullen household, I was cautious, but Alice just strolled right up to the front door and rang the bell. A woman with caramel colored hair answered, her smile falling when she took in my appearance. After fighting for almost a century, I carried the battle scars of a soldier.

"Carlisle," she said, and a moment later, a man and a woman, both blonde, flanked the speaker.

"Esme!" Alice said. Not giving them a chance to react, Alice wrapped her arms around the stunned woman. I felt fear and panic from the two behind her, so I cleared the air with some calm. When Alice dropped her embrace from Esme, she turned to Carlisle and greeted him in the same manner. When she made a move towards the blonde, she took a step back but that didn't stop Alice from jumping on her as well. "Rosalie."

"I'm sorry, do we know you?" Carlisle asked, the question confusing himself. Vampires don't forget. He knew he didn't know us but he couldn't figure out how we knew him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Alice giggled. "I'm Alice and this is Jasper, we have come to live with you. Where can we put our stuff?"

Esme and Carlisle shared a look, both of them struck dumb.

"Where are Edward and Emmett?" she asked.

It turns out that the two men had gone hunting and wouldn't be back for a day or so. Once Alice took a break long enough to tell the others about her visions, they received us fairly warmly. Carlisle was very impressed with the fact that Alice had only once tasted human blood, as he had never had the pleasure either; my words, not his. The two of them sat for hours discussing both his past and our joint future.

Esme had offered to make room for our stuff but Alice told her not to bother. Before I could stop her, she had cleaned out Edward's room and placed all his things in the garage. I sat back and laughed, already knowing that she would get away with it. But I guess she already knew it, too.

It hadn't taken me long to realize that no one says no to Alice.


	5. Chapter 4- The Story of New Families

A/N- It's Thursday again! Happy almost Friday. As always a big thank you to AcrosstheskyinStars for betaing and to everyone reading and reviewing. For those wanting more Edward, I promise, he is coming soon.

**Chapter 4-**

_**The Story of New Families**_

Isabella Swan

"So, Bella, want to catch a movie tonight?"

I pulled my book closer to my nose and tried to pretend I hadn't heard him. Obviously he didn't take the hint, because soon his eyes were peeking over the top of my book in a wide, child-like manner.

"There's this new one out called _Lady and the Tramp_." If he wasn't so annoying, I would almost consider him cute. With golden hair that stopped just above his sky blue eyes, he was certainly the boy any girl would want to date, any girl who didn't actually know him.

"Mike," I sighed out while marking my place and setting my book down. He luckily took the cue and stood back up, giving me the space I desperately needed.

"Yes?" he responded eagerly. It was almost as if he had been placed here specifically to drive me insane instead of reaping.

"_Lady and the Tramp_…isn't that supposed to be a cartoon?" My bottom lip being trapped between my teeth was all that kept me from laughing at the dumbfounded expression on his face. His eyes scrunched up, and I almost warned him not to think so hard since I feared it might cause him actual damage. Then I remembered that even if it did, he would heal fast enough.

Eventually he just shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something about hearing some kids in town say how good it was. Poor, sweet, delusional Michael. It was as if he just didn't understand the words that came out of his mouth.

Mike was naive, a thorn in my side, and the only real companion I had in this existence. After living alone for so long, one would think I would cling to the idea of some company. The truth of the matter was that most of the time, I missed the old days. Back when I didn't have talk to someone else about where I would live next, or what I should have for dinner. Back when I actually thought I would move on eventually.

I met Mike right after _she_ came in and ruined my chance at ever moving on. _She_ had become the bane of my existence, and the reason I now found myself stuck with the reaper version of a lap dog, Michael Newton.

Mike, unlike me, loved being a reaper. The immortality, quick healing, and secrets of the supernatural was all very thrilling to him. He also had never taken a single soul. It was annoying, really. Mike was the first and last human kill of Miss Alice. Or as I prefer to think of her, the pop blocker! The evil, little sprite wandered into my vampire's life, and ever since then, he hadn't killed a single human!

I tried to bring him back to his roots. I tried reminding him what human blood tasted like. Not that I would actually know, but from the look on his face as he drained me each and every time, I knew it had to be better than the animals he was eating.

Yes, that's right, animals! I discovered this had become his new diet after running across a child reaper. The young boy had been killed in a bank robbery. I never knew that children reaped animals until I ran across the young boy while following my vampire one day. I was determined to figure out why I hadn't received a single envelope in weeks.

When I came across little Zachary, my first thought was to get him out of the area. Despite not having his name on a list, I still feared for the boy. The feeling didn't last long once I saw the bullet hole in his chest. Zach's soul had been popped after his death. Zach was a smart kid and declined staying with Mike and I, but did give me a lot of great information.

Not even Mike had known that his vampire was drinking animal blood. If he had, his lack of souls to pop might have made sense to him. Alice and Jasper's diet kept Zach very busy and he informed me in a roundabout way that he would be very glad when they moved out of his area. Armed with my new information, I began to plan on how to get Jasper back to hunting humans. It wasn't that I wanted people to die; it was simply that as long as things continued how they were going, I would never reach my quota.

Mike didn't seem to understand my "obsession with moving on," but Mike also had not been around as long as I had. I tried to have him to help me with getting Jasper back to human hunting, but he refused. So I did it myself. I would harm myself whenever I knew he was close. He always took the bait. I was drained, I would get a new body, and then I would hope he would quit the silly animal diet.

"Hey, looks like we got an envelope," Mike said while staring at the slot beneath our doorway.

It wasn't my fault that Mike got knocked down in my eagerness to get the envelope. He really shouldn't have been standing in my way when I went to retrieve it. I wasted no time in ripping open the manila colored paper. The list inside only held one name, and I felt my chest swell with hope before I saw the information provided.

Name: M. Metzner

Estimated Time of Death: 11:34 AM

Window of Opportunity: Five minutes

Location: Tree Line, Elm and Mulberry

Last Thoughts: She kinda looks like Tinkerbell.

Reaper: Michael Newton

"You've got to be kidding me!" I screamed as I looked at the reaper's name. Surely they could let me have this one, couldn't they? I mean, it's not like Mike even knew how to pop a soul.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Mike asked, using the nickname I had been given while waitressing at that dreadful diner.

I thrust the list towards him, and he quickly looked over it. Mike didn't seem as nervous as I would have expected. This would be his first soul popping…shouldn't he do more than just shrug and toss the paper aside?

"It's already eleven," I stated, hoping to hint to him that he should head towards his location. With that tiny window of opportunity, he'd be lucky if he didn't get drained himself.

"So, did you want to catch that movie?" Mike replied, back to his happy voice. It was as if he thought death could rework itself for his schedule.

"Mike, you have a job," I pressed, but he just shrugged before going towards the kitchen to pour himself a glass of milk.

At this point, I was starting to worry about his claim that he'd never had to pop a soul before. Were there bodies buried with trapped souls that Michael Newton just felt he was too busy to deal with?

"MIKE! You've got half an hour to find and pop that soul!"

"Calm down, Bella, the second envelope should be here soon," he replied before tipping his glass to his lips so he could chug his milk.

As if it had been summoned on Mike's cue, a second manila envelope slid across the kitchen floor, landing at Mike's feet. He didn't even bother to reach for it. Once I got the paper extracted, I saw the same list that had arrived only moments before but with the word "Rescheduled" written across the top in red.

The information had all been crossed out with the exception of the person's name. Everything from this person's last thought to their reaper was changed. The time of death was followed by a date that would guarantee this person another fifty years of life.

To say I was speechless would be an understatement. I was in complete shock. I had heard of rescheduled appointments but never seen one myself. They were supposed to be rare, but Mike seemed to be expecting it.

"Mike how did you..." my voice trailed off as he started to laugh.

"I get those all the time. The reaper that trained me, Brett, he was in the accidents division, he was shocked the first time he saw it, but after getting every list rescheduled, you sort of just know it's going to happen."

Mike's explanation opened up other questions that started a long conversation over the next few days. I learned that Mike was trained by another supernatural reaper like me. Apparently his trainer moved on via death of their vampire before Mike was killed. Mike's death was considered as a supernatural accident, or at least that's what Brett told him.

Brett was surprised when he got Mike's name on his list but got over it quickly. It's something us reapers learn to do real well, get over things. I got over the fact that popping souls didn't come with a pay check. I got over the fact that Jasper being with Alice meant I was stuck with Mike, and several years later I would get over the fact that our duo became a group of five when Jasper joined the Cullens.

I was a bundle of nerves and stress when the barely older than myself man began to introduce the other reapers. Luckily it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The group Jasper joined had five more vampires, but out of them, only three had reapers.

"I'm Phil Dewer." He wasn't much older than us, and had an athletic build. With dirty blond hair and hazel eyes, he had that look like he could blend easily into a crowd, to me, at least. "This is Renee Higgenbotham." The woman Phil was indicating was older than him, Mike, and myself, but something about her smile hinted at a young spirit. She was very pretty, with brown hair so much richer in color than my own, and eyes that changed colors from blue to green. Renee's eyes focused on him as if he was the only other person aside from her on the planet.

"And this is Charlie." Charlie reminded me a lot of my father, whom I had not thought of in several decades. He had a slight amount of grey mixed in with his dark hair and kind eyes that made me take to him almost immediately.

Charlie, it turned out, was nothing like the father I had as a human, but everything like the father I always wished I had. He and the other reapers became my family. Charlie was like my dad, Renee my mom, or at times, she almost seemed like a sister. Phil was, well…Phil, and Mike was like that annoying step-brother who tries to see you naked all the time. He was sometimes okay to be around, but really creepy when he hit on me.

The Cullens, I soon learned, were not your typical vampire coven. Carlisle, the leader, didn't kill off members every chance he got. In fact, we were forced to accept that Carlisle had never killed anyone at all. He would have had a reaper otherwise. Carlisle and Rosalie were both reaper-less, well...semi-reaper-less. Rosalie had adopted a child reaper, Vanessa, even if she didn't know it.

Vanessa or Nessie, as Renee told me the little girl preferred to be called, was an animal reaper like Zach, but she didn't stay in one place. No, Nessie followed the Cullens, or more specifically, Rosalie, wherever they moved. The young girl had seen the blonde vampire while the Cullens had been in her territory and became enraptured by her. Vanessa idolized Rose.

Charlie tried over and over again to offer the young girl a place to stay in our home, but she refused. Like most children reapers, she preferred to take care of herself, though I believed if Rose offered her a place to stay, the young girl would accept it eagerly.

Nessie never came out and said it, but we all believed that Rose must have reminded her of a big sister, or possibly even her mother from her life before this. Like the others, Nessie wasn't upset about the afterlife she had been dealt. I was obviously the only sane one in the group.

So we lived our afterlives together, and I had a family, again. Charlie didn't believe his vampire, Edward, would ever kill again, and was perfectly content with his existence. Renee was restless, though, she had been Esme's reaper for longer than Phil or Mike had even existed. Renee, like Charlie, was sure her vampire would not give her work to do, but unlike Charlie, didn't want to be tied to the Cullens.

It was that same restlessness and my finally accepting that Jasper would only ever be tempted to kill me that landed me beside Renee and Phil on a plane to Arizona. It was the first time I would be living in a state, let alone a city, that Jasper was not bound for. Part of me worried that Emmett, Esme, or worse, Jasper, would slip while we were too far away to get to the souls in time, but as I pulled my luggage out of the overhead bin, reassurance came in an unusual manner, a manila envelope fell out with a post it attached to the front. The envelope was empty, and the post it only held two words.

_Have Fun._

**Jasper Whitlock**

**3 days earlier:**

I had had a pretty good run, but it always seemed like there was something or someone out there testing me. Edward had been a big help to me, after he got over the fact that Alice had stolen his room. I wasn't sure how she'd gotten away with it, and when I asked him, he wasn't sure either. He'd seen the fight they were going to have in her mind and then when he saw himself lose, he just gave up. He and I were fast friends and I truly felt blessed to have him and the other Cullens in my life. For the first time, I found that I was content with my station. I didn't need any more than I had, with the exception of a dose of better control.

Alice and I fit in well with our new family, but I still had the hardest time with the bloodlust. I could feel the difference in control between me and the rest of the Cullens and I put hope in the idea that I would progress to that stage as well. I wanted to be able to go out in public and function without the stress of wanting to eat everybody in sight. It didn't seem fair that there was always someone throwing their blood at me, so to speak. Alice said I was overreacting but there were times where I swore my slips broke the skin on purpose.

Emmett and I were out hunting when it happened, again; we were skimming along the edge of the forest when I smelled her. If I had been with Alice or Edward, they might have been able to stop me in time, but that familiar smell took me over. I made a sharp left and Emmett, being so large, took longer to respond.

I heard the words, "Oh, come on," right before I sunk my teeth into her neck. I didn't stop to think what they might mean. It was harder when I looked at them like people, waited to feel the emotions. It was so easy to just let the beast out.

The familiar taste of her blood coated my throat, making me groan with desire. _Nothing_ felt better than the feel of human blood rushing through me. Emmett kept his distance; it was too late to help and he knew that I might not be able control my predatory instinct if he got too close, or perhaps he was fighting his own desires now that her blood was spilled. Her brunette hair fanned over the ground as I lay her down. She looked familiar, yet not. I supposed after killing so many, the lines started to blur.

The guilt hit immediately and Emmett was by my side as soon as she touched the ground. Emmett had his own bout of guilt and I knew he was upset with himself for not being able to stop me. He didn't say anything as he scooped the body up in his arms and darted off into the woods. I didn't follow; he didn't want me to. When he came back a few minutes later, I tried not to notice the dirt under his fingernails. I didn't mention his service to me as we silently made our way back through the forest.

The moment we entered the house, Alice was wrapped around me.

"How did I not see it? All I saw was you and Emmett coming back and I knew."

Her tiny arms held onto my neck as she whispered words of regret for not being there for me. She apologized as I shushed her, telling her it wasn't her fault.

It was mine.

I was weak.

"Jasper, can I talk to you?" Edward asked, stepping into the living room.

"Sure," I replied, gently prying my ladylove off me. "I'll be back soon, darlin'."

She gave me a tight smile that broke my heart and fueled the guilt. I followed Edward out of the house, berating myself in my mind. I could have resisted. I wasn't trying hard enough.

"Carlisle says we have to move again," Edward started.

"I figured," I replied.

"It's okay, Jasper, we've all had slips…well, most of us." There were two among us that had never tasted human blood.

"I'm just sick of not being able to control it."

"You'll get it soon. You better, or else there might not be any brunettes left," he joked.

I laughed although I didn't quite share the humor of it. I knew he was trying to make me feel better, and I appreciated it, but I needed to feel better a different way.

"How did you know?" I asked when his comment really sunk in. "That it was a brunette?"

"I could see her in your mind," Edward stated. "And they always seem to be brunettes."

I got lost in my thoughts. Was that true, was it always brunettes? The thought sent chills through me. Maybe there was something I couldn't control.

"Ahh, well I'll leave you to it, then," Edward said, always the gentleman.

I shook off the disturbing thoughts about not being in control of my destiny and I found my way back into the house, to my wife.

Alice was waiting for me in our room when I entered; she stood nervously by the bed. I hated when I brought out these feelings in her. Pity is not an emotion you want coming from your mate. I knew she tried to hide it, but that just made it worse. I didn't want her to take care of me. I couldn't stand the idea of her needing to.

I concentrated on her body and not her emotions. Her tiny waist was so delicate in her dress, cinched tight with a wide belt. The hollow of her throat was so delicious as it moved when she took her unnecessary breaths. But my favorite part of Alice had always been her eyes, so kind. Never had a harsh look escaped and they shone with her innocence and love.

I moved towards her, my hands finding their familiar way to her hips, nearly connecting all the way around. She threw her head back in anticipation of the kiss I was about to place on her neck.

When we first started making love, I was unsure of her abilities. If she knew what I was going to do, would it not wreck the experience for her? She had told me simply, it was like comparing a fantasy to reality. No matter how many times she had seen herself react to my touches, it was completely different to live it. And with my gift I knew she was truthful. I had felt the difference in the feel of her fantasies and her true reactions during the act. Although both filled me with delight.

One might have thought that after such a failure as I'd had that day I would want to take her fast, forget my pain. It was the opposite. I wanted to savor the human in me, not the beast. I wanted to love Alice with intent and control, to prove I still had that ability.

I lifted my hand and Alice whispered, "Oh yes, Jasper," just before I brought it to her breast. I skimmed the top of her cleavage with my knuckles before slowly unbuttoning her dress. The heart-shaped fasteners ran down the entire front, so once I had them and her belt undone, she slipped the dress off just like a shirt.

One thing I had never complained about with Alice's gift was the fact that it made her an expert on my likings from the start. She knew that I didn't like my nipples pinched or my ass bitten, which had been a favorite move of Maria's. Her tiny hands made short work of my pants, my lust beginning to seep out to her. I pulled my shirt off over my head, leaving us both in our underwear. I used to feel self-conscious about my scars but Alice had reassured me that they were beautiful, I was beautiful, and although I didn't agree with her sentiment, I knew it was her truth.

Alice made a move to lower herself but then stopped. I smiled at her; she knew I wanted to take care of her tonight and not the other way around. I picked up her tiny frame and placed her gently on our bed, her white skin and black hair stunning on our burgundy sheets.

I crawled to her so that my hands and knees caged her under me. She arched up to meet my lips as I placed kisses on the round flesh that pushed out toward me. The arch also allowed me to reach behind with one hand and undo her bra. I pulled the garment off her and reveled in the view of her. I knew that by most standards, Alice was small, but to me, her body was perfect. Everything fit in proportion and it made me want to always handle her with gentle care. Each inch of her was to be cherished because there was less.

I ran my tongue along her, slow and then fast. She gave a small moan that sounded like a bird chirping. I kissed my way down her stomach, teasing as I stopped on her hip.

"Jazz, please give me more," she begged. I sent a wave of lust mixed with love and she pressed her legs eagerly together.

"I love you," I whispered as I pulled her lacy briefs out of the way. I applied a little too much pressure and the elastic broke, sending them flying off the bed. The small piece of fabric would not be missed. Alice would surely like the excuse for a shopping trip.

As I placed kisses lower, Alice dropped her legs open for me and passively accepted my attention. She was allowing me to take care of her and it only made me hungry to do a good job.

"Jasper, oh…go left," she pleaded and I twisted my fingers to accommodate her. Her body tensed immediately as she hit her climax. She was stunning as her face scrunched up in concentration and the pleasure overtook her. Of course I had added a little more pleasure to the mix with my powers. Alice never minded that I 'cheated'.

Quickly dispensing my own boxers, I slid into the bed beside my wife. She smiled at me as she saw what I had decided. I turned her onto her side so that her back was pressed tightly to my chest. Lifting her leg gently, I slid into her body. She was small but she accommodated me perfectly. I swiveled my hips, not so much an in and out motion as an up and down one. I kept one hand on her hip and the other underneath, snaked around to caress her breast. She purred and whimpered as I left wet kisses on the back of her neck. I loved her sounds.

We stared out the window together, watching the moon rise and set as I moved in her. Never having to worry about a limb falling asleep or a leg cramping, we stayed connect, fueling each other's lust throughout the night. When I wanted her to come, I used my fingers as well as my gift. I gave her the pleasure that she gave me everyday just by loving me and it was enough to send her over the edge. I had lost count of the number of times she had come, but I had held my own. It was true, that I had no recovery time as a vampire, but something made it that much sweeter to keep my climax until the end. When I finally did let go, it was with a brute force that caused my body to almost enjoy the feeling of exhaustion.

My wife turned in my arms to look up at me and her warm smile mirrored the gentle feelings inside of her.

"I love you. Forever," she stated.

"And I you, darlin', and I you."

We lay in each other's arms for a few more hours before Alice bounded off the bed. It was only while in bed that Alice had a calm about her, and even sometimes her bouncy nature followed her there, not that I complained.

"I guess we better get packing."

We learned not long after that Carlisle had secured a position in a small town hospital. We were headed to Forks.


	6. Chapter 5- The Story of New Beginnings

A/N Thanks again everyone reading and reviewing. Remember you get a teaser if you review.

Big hearts to Acrosstheskyinstars for her beta work.  
We get to hear from Edward from now on. I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 5-**

_**The Story of New Beginnings**_

Isabella Swan

_Bella,_

How is Phoenix? Charlie misses you and still holds out hope that you'll join us here in our new town. I was really surprised to hear about those reapers there in Phoenix using post-its. How do they fit all the information about the soul they are popping onto that tiny bit of paper?

_Things are calm here. Alice and Jasper are still together so there are no signs of you being needed anytime soon. The Cullens actually know me and Charlie exist now, sort of. They don't know what we are, of course, but this town is so small everyone knows everyone. Charlie has taken on a job as the Police Chief. He's even going by Charlie Swan, so you can be his "daughter" if you get tired of Phoenix. _

_Charlie thinks I still look like a kid so I had to register at the high school as a student. It's odd because the Cullens are there as well. Alice has not seemed to recognize me, but since I'm hardly ever near her, it's not a big surprise._

_I hope you're doing good._

_Write back soon,_

_Mike_

I closed the email knowing that I would have to reply back soon, but not really wanting to. Charlie was using my last name? Talk about pressure.

Perhaps I'd just pretend I didn't really register that part when I replied? I could have simply told him how the reapers here didn't get their victims' last thoughts on their post-its and that would be enough to satisfy Mike about my life away from him and Charlie.

Renee and I had really grown close over the past couple of years. Her age combined with the brown hair caused most humans to assume that she was my mother. We went with it even though I was constantly stepping into the caretaker role. Afterlife really suited her. Renee, like Mike, loved being a reaper, and didn't care if her vampire, Esme, never killed again.

Phil, like Renee, wasn't in any hurry to move on, but he still seemed a little anxious any time the empty envelopes with the post-its on the front showed up. He worried that he wouldn't be close enough to Emmett's victims if - or should I say when - he killed again.

Emmett, unlike Esme, had killed once or twice over the decades, and each time came as a complete shock to Phil. I guessed that's why he did not have the same belief Renee had that his vampire would never kill again.

As for me, I'd come to accept that Jasper wouldn't kill unless tempted to the point of no choice, and unfortunately the only being alive or undead willing to do that tempting was me. While the pain from being drained was not nearly as bad as it would have been for a human, the fact still remained that it didn't raise the number of souls I'd helped move on.

So I'd learned to accept my afterlife. I no longer bit my lip when the post-its arrived. I knew mine would say 'Have fun' or 'Enjoy the day off'. That is if it wasn't completely blank. The optimistic ones came a lot at the beginning. I think someone somewhere enjoyed watching my reactions when I realized the writing did not mean a job. I could appreciate that we were all just trying to find a way to enjoy our afterlife even if I didn't enjoy being the butt end of the joke.

Obviously someone farther up the afterlife ladder than myself must have had a sense of humor, why else would they insist on making each and every single body I get just as clumsy as the last? The non-changing hair color I got, it was so I recognized myself, I think. The fact that I was always a girl was a given, but the clumsiness?

A sigh escaped my lips as I considered that fact and put back the nice, new skirt Renee had given to me last week. I may have healed fast, but skinning my knees still hurt. I quickly slipped on a pair of blue jeans and grabbed a random tee shirt before heading out the door and down the street to the waffle house on the corner.

My favorite group of reapers met there each morning for breakfast, and I found myself joining them more often than not lately. Rube, the guy in charge of their small division, had a thing for waffle houses, or so I'd been told. I could see them all sitting together at the usual booth from the sidewalk outside. It was not until after the bell on the door chimed to signal my arrival that they saw me.

"Hey, it's vamp girl!" Mason called out, causing me to roll my eyes in return.

Mason loved to remind each of us how we died, as often as possible. My nickname from him wasn't all that unique or embarrassing, my friend George on the other hand...

"Come grab a chair next to Toilet-Seat."

Georgia,or George, as she preferred, like myself, was only a teenager when her life had ended, but her death wasn't nearly as common as my own.

"Mason, I swear if you call me that one more time I'm gonna tell Roxy what you did last week," George retorted as her eyes narrowed in anger.

I quickly slipped into the booth beside her just as Roxy appeared, asking what exactly Mason had done. Luckily I could claim I knew nothing about anything, since, unlike George, I was never stupid enough to hang out with the moron who died by drilling a hole into his own head. He claimed he had a good reason for that, but somehow, I just couldn't see it.

"George? Mason? Somebody better tell me what you two have been up to!" Roxy's voice was already angry enough to make me want to find safety. I didn't know how those two could sit there and take it.

"What can I get for you hun?" our usual waitress asked me while pretending not to notice the angry woman across from me glaring daggers at the other two members of our group.

Sometimes I got the feeling our waitress knew we weren't normal, but preferred to just pretend she didn't hear the things we discussed over breakfast while sitting in her section. We always tipped her well, but money does not make you deaf.

"I'll have a banana muffin and an orange juice," I replied, holding out my unused menu. I had most of the thing memorized anyway.

"Alright, people, you can kill each other on your own time. I've got job assignments to pass out." Rube's greeting was said with a completely straight face. If I didn't know him any better, I would have thought he was trying to be funny.

"Alright, Peanut, this one is for you," he said, using his own nickname for George. "And this one's for you," he continued, handing Roxy her post-it. "Mason, you've got three today."

"Three? Why the bloody hell do I have three? Can't you give one to Georgia over there? Or what about Daisy? Where is she, anyway?"

It still amazed me at how different the human reapers did things. The fact that Mason even questioned how many souls he had to pop still surprised me. Momentarily, I allowed myself to wonder if I would be complaining about work if I was in his position, or if I would be asking for more in an attempt to reach my quota faster.

"Daisy isn't any of your concern, and Peanut here has her own reap at that time. Besides, you're a pro at this, you can handle it, right?" Rube replied, fingering one last post-it that was still attached to his planner.

"Yeah, okay, whatever." Mason's response was so typical for him.

My muffin and orange juice arrived just as Rube pulled out a ticket to some baseball game, causing Mason to perk up. Turned out his job was taking place at the game. I tried hard not to roll my eyes at his change in attitude as I took a drink of my orange juice.

"And this one is for you, Bella. I must say, we're going to miss having you around here."

The orange juice I was drinking flew out of my mouth as my brain registered his words. Roxy and Mason, who were, unfortunately, sitting across from me, were sprayed with the fruity liquid as I took a much needed gasp of air and then grabbed at the post-it, wanting to confirm it was real.

_A. Marks_

_ETD Monday 12:10 PM_

_EWO 10 minutes_

_Location Forks High School Cafeteria_

Seriously?

Now?

After all this freaking time! He finally decided to kill again. After I had accepted he wasn't going to anymore? The annoyance built within, only allowing me to hazily notice the plane ticket Rube slid over to me. Instead of emailing Mike, it seemed I would be answering his questions in person.

~*~

Renee was in tears when she found out I was leaving. She had come to view me as a daughter, and as much as I hated to admit it to myself, I was really going to miss her and Phil as well. Packing was easy enough, since nearly none of my wardrobe was appropriate for the weather in Forks. Rene offered to take me shopping, but I declined. Shopping after I got settled in was Plan B, but I was still holding out hope that I wouldn't be in this life, much less Forks, too much longer.

The trip to Forks was torturous. I went from being outraged with the stupid blonde vampire that cursed me with this life, to feeling hope that maybe this would be my last soul. I couldn't stop the nearly giddy feeling that took bubbled up whenever I pictured handing this job and its invisible cord that tied me to Jasper over to this A. Marks person.

Sure, the odds of my first soul popping in several decades becoming my last weren't very realistic, but what were the odds of Jasper suddenly killing again right after I accepted that he wasn't going to?

Luckily the flight was shorter than I expected it to feel, and the welcome to Washington was more emotional than I could have anticipated. It was after Charlie gave me an awkward one arm hug that I realized how much I had actually missed him. Renee was fun, and full of life, but the strong, comforting silence that surrounded Charlie screamed home in a way that could not be duplicated.

Having Charlie meet me at the airport came with a price, though. My transportation from the airport to his house was not exactly my first choice. It took all of my willpower not to ask him if I could catch a cab and follow him instead of stepping into his work vehicle. The drive was nice though, the peaceful silence didn't break until the end of our trip.

"Bella!" Mike's voice scared a family birds perched in a nearby tree as he called my name.

I let out a huff of frustrated air before pulling my bag out of the back of Charlie's cruiser. I still couldn't believe he took on a job fighting crime in a town too small for such a thing to exist, but if it was what he wanted to do with his free time, then I would be happy for him. Mike stood in the doorway of a small two-story house that would apparently become my new home, while waving like I was blind or couldn't see him from the short, ten foot distance between us.

The rest of the evening went by relatively well. Charlie had already enrolled me in Forks high school, and thanks to Mike's big mouth, the entire student body seemed to already know I would be arriving the next day. He also took it upon himself to inform everyone that my name was Marie, since it was the identity I had been using in Phoenix. Marie was Charlie's biological daughter, while Mike was adopted.

Mike claimed this was because I actually looked similar to Charlie, while he could never pass for his flesh and blood, but I had a bad feeling it was so he could still flirt with me and not look like a complete perv. No blood relation was all he would need to say. Marie also came with a large, red truck filled with just as much personality as myself. I could tell, like me, it had been forced to deal with a few changes over the years.

So when the next morning came and it was time to drive it to school, I didn't mind that it smelled faintly of tobacco, or that some stupid Volvo managed to outstrip it on the way to school. I was positive that if we had crashed, my truck would've managed far better. Judging by the dents in the side and bumper, it must have had almost as many lives as me; it was only too bad the truck couldn't heal itself though. The spring sticking out of the seat managed to scrape my arm as I climbed down after arriving at school.

Mike was absolutely no help when it came to showing me around. Instead, he pointed me to the main office as soon as we arrived, and then took off for his own class. The receptionist seemed at a loss when I told her I was a new student. Luckily the vice principal had spoken with Charlie, so I was on my way with a schedule and map I truly hoped would allow me to somehow cross paths with A. Marks a bit early. Maybe I could pop his soul and then fake sick for the rest of the day.

My hopes were dashed when class after class I met many students and teachers but none with the name A Marks. Mid-afternoon came in no time at all, the lunch bell rang, and the clock ticked closer to the end of A. Marks' life. I smiled to myself because Forks wasn't so bad, even if it hadn't been my choice to come here.

My eyes darted around the cafeteria as I grabbed a lemonade and nothing else from the lunch line. I was too anxious to eat, not that I really needed to, anyway. A girl from my previous class was leading me towards a table where Mike was performing a repeat of his waving from the day before. I was actually positive the frizzy brunette who was forcing her company upon me was only interested in me because she wanted to date 'my brother', but I didn't get to think about it for too long since my eyes landed on _them_.

There were only four of them at the table. Mike said five of them were posing as students, but I didn't bother trying to figure out who was missing. I saw Jasper right away and that was all that mattered, he was there and soon his victim wouldn't be.

I jerked my eyes away from my vampire and looked toward Mike. He should know most of the student body from his past two years here in this town, and if I had thought about it, I should have asked him for his help before we even got to school this morning. He was my last resort to get to Marks before Jasper did. Unfortunately, as I tried to make eye contact with him, the brunette from my trig class blocked him from my view and began to chat with him about some inane movie she was clearly hoping he'd ask her to.

I sat down a bit too forcefully, scaring some tall, dark-haired girl across from me who seemed to have been absorbed in reading one of my favorite books. I probably would have actually enjoyed talking to her if I didn't have such important business to tend to. A clock on the north side wall revealed it was already five after twelve, and I couldn't help but begin to panic.

Mike was too busy flirting to notice I needed his help, and since it was my first day, I couldn't just start asking around about this Marks kid, unless Marks was a teacher. I started looking for potential signs about who might become vampire chow, and rating the risk factors on a scale of one to ten.

The blonde sitting next to Mike was making come hither eyes toward Jasper's table. He could take her outside under the pretense of a make-out only to drain her, right? I gave her a seven on my dead meat scale then dropped it to a two...no, one-and-a-half, after I noticed the look of disgust he gave her when she caught his eye.

A boy on the opposite side of the cafeteria was sneezing up a storm and starting to head toward the exit, unaccompanied. I assumed he was heading toward the nurse, and figured it wouldn't have been hard for Jasper to slip out of the noisy room undetected before making the sick child into his next meal. Sneezer got a nine.

With only four minutes left, I prepared to go after the sick kid when my cell began to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled the new iPhone out and quickly slid my finger across the screen to unlock it and enlarge the picture text I'd just received. My free hand clenched to the point of nearly unbearable pain as I stared at the picture of a post-it with just a single word written across it.

_Rescheduled_

**Edward Cullen**

Forks had grown on me.

Our family had been living there for two years, and even though the town was mostly filled with the same drabble we found everywhere, it had a decent selection of wildlife in the surrounding areas. Jasper had been slow to take to our lifestyle but we had all been really proud of him; it had been two years since his last slip up. I knew it was still hard for him, his thoughts betrayed the calm he tried to project.

The high school students were the same here as they were everywhere, self absorbed. It was rare to be inside a girl's mind without hearing thoughts about her hair, her butt, or the new shade of lip gloss. Of course, those thoughts were sometimes interrupted by unoriginal fantasies of me and my brothers. I had been around for over a hundred years; sexual positions were bound to become redundant, even though I had yet to try any of them.

My interest was somewhat piqued when the buzz around the school moved off vanity and settled on the new student. I had learned quickly through thoughts that the new student's name was Marie Swan. The guys seemed interested in her but I couldn't really tell why. She was mousy looking with a nose that was too skinny for her face. I assumed that this was the fresh meat syndrome and would pass once she had been here for a couple months.

I lingered with my family out in the grassy area in front of the school. It was better to avoid being in the school as a group as much as possible, prey doesn't like feeling trapped. I looked at the two newest members of my family. I couldn't believe how quickly they had found a place in my heart. Especially after how annoyed I had been when I returned home from that hunting trip and Alice had moved all my things into the garage. Every time we had moved after that, she would 'predict' where we would all end up and we had all but stopped fighting her. Sometimes I think we just let her do what she wanted because it was easier than arguing with the mini hurricane.

Emmett and Rosalie were chatting to each other and I was attempting to drown out their inner dialogue; what they said on the outside wasn't nearly as sexual as what was going on in their heads. I looked to Alice, who had been my confidant about the things I didn't want to know, after all she had her own way of knowing things she wasn't supposed to know.

Alice's eyes were glazed over as a vision hit her.

_I was sitting at one of the lab tables in a classroom when a strange look came over my face. If I didn't know better, I would have said I looked like I was hunting. I kept glancing at the empty seat next to me._

When Alice's eyes met mine, we shared a perplexed look. There wasn't anything of real importance in the vision but what I couldn't get over was the look on my face in the vision. I had never seen myself look so feral. There were no reflective surfaces when I hunted but I imagined that look to be the exact one I wore right before tearing into a meal.

Alice looked at me and shrugged, it wasn't uncommon for her to get visions that didn't really matter. There were only so many times she could foresee one of us making our bed or doing laundry before we realized that not all her visions meant something, but I did have a strange feeling about it.

The morning went quick enough, same as we had done a million times; recommended reading lists, class outlines, rules, etcetera. I met my family in the cafeteria, sitting at the same table we did the year before. Jasper was on edge when I sat down.

"What's the matter?" I asked, too quiet for human ears.

_The new girl was glaring at me and then she just took off,_ he answered in his mind.

"So?"

_So, it was weird, like she knew me._

Jasper showed me the memory and I did think she had looked at him strangely. It wasn't often a human would make eye contact with one of us and hold their ground. This girl almost looked like she knew Jasper and she was most definitely not afraid, she looked like she wanted to rip his head off. I would have to keep Jasper away from her; she was poking the wrong monster. Jasper didn't need anyone else testing his control.

The vision bombarded out of Alice's head: _Austin, the gangly kid from my math class, grabbed for his soda. Flicking the tab open, he stuck his finger into the can. The smell hit me, even through the vision. Jasper was up in a flash, he dragged the kid out of the cafeteria before slaughtering him in the woods._

I looked at Alice pointedly; she returned the look with a slight nod. Our eyes both looked up to see Austin enter the room. He grabbed his lunch before heading toward a table. Alice popped up out of her seat.

"I'm just going to grab something from my locker," she chirped before cutting Austin off. She bumped into the boy and the surprise meat special of the day was suddenly dripping down his shirt.

"I am so sorry," Alice played honestly.

The boy was momentarily dazed at the sight of Alice before him, talking to him, that he didn't answer. It was only when I heard his internal voice telling his body it was burning that he surveyed the mess she had caused.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," he said, holding the shirt away from his body. "I'll just go home and change."

Alice turned around and sat back down at our table.

"I thought you were going to get something?" Jasper wondered.

"Doesn't matter, I don't need it anymore," she replied, smiling.

When I arrived in bio class, I took my regular seat. It was off to the side, and away from the door. Students and teachers alike tend to get very uneasy when the predator is blocking the door. I had been sitting alone again this year, it was common for us. I often wondered if they put us all in uneven number classes on purpose.

I studied the door carefully, watching everyone file in. I counted and took note as they each took their seats, leaving the ones closest to me for last. I reached down and grabbed my book out of my bag when I heard her; too soft to be Mr. Banner's steps, I looked up and saw a girl enter the classroom. I was confused as the only seat left was the one next to me, and Alice had shown me sitting alone in her vision today. She had brown hair and brown eyes, but other than that, this girl didn't resemble the one in the thoughts of everyone around me. While they saw a plain looking girl with sharp features, I saw a heart-shaped face, uneven lips, and large eyes. My face must have shown my confusion because the girl scowled at me and plopped herself in the chair next to mine.

The moment she did, her scent overtook me. She smelled better than anyone I had ever encountered. I imagined she filled my senses the same way a Thanksgiving meal would for a human. I held my breath while my mind worked out the ways I could have her blood streaming through my system. I needed her. I was obviously meant to kill this girl so Alice's vision could come true and the spot next to me would remain empty.

The girl turned and looked straight into my eyes, but instead of fear in her features, she looked defeated.

"Just flipping great," she muttered. I couldn't figure out what she meant but I couldn't care less when her sweet ambrosia was drifting towards me.

The next hour was torture; all I could think of was how much I wanted her. I convinced myself she wouldn't be missed, that no one would even notice if the new girl didn't come back.

When the bell rang, I addressed her, "You're new right?"

"Yeah," she replied, not looking interested in me at all.

"You're a bit behind getting started, so if you want my notes, you could come out to my car now and I'll grab them for you." I dipped my head and stuck my hands in my pockets, like I'd seen so many teenage boys to while flirting.

She looked at me, in fact I'd say she sized me up, and then shook her head with a laugh. "No thanks. I'm not interested in leaving the school with you alone."

I watched as she turned on her heel and left, leaving me confused. She thought I was after a date, which would be a safer thing for her to think, but unbelievably she turned me down. I wasn't speaking with vanity but I knew from the minds of the other girls at school that every single one of them would jump at a chance to be alone with one of the Cullen boys. Marie was an unusual girl, in so many ways.

Once she was out of my sight I was able to think more clearly, and I indeed left for my car. Alice met me, with both hands on her hips but a compassionate look on her face.

"Why did I see you going crazy in bio the last hour?" she asked politely.

Alice played the vision in her head. It was the same massacre I had in my head all through bio, the only difference was, there was no girl in my grasp. It looked like I was attacking and feeding, but in the vision, there was nothing but thin air.

Marie was creating questions far faster than I could find answers.


	7. Chapter 6- The Story of Two Faces

A/N- Thank you all for reading. I really appreciate those taking the time to leave a review. I give teasers to those who review while logged in.

Also I post a teaser on FB in the Fanficaholics Anon Update Forum, so you can check there as well.

Major love to my beta Acrosstheskyinstars. She is having a bad week and is under the weather, so send her good thoughts, if you know her give her a hug and if you don't go check out one of her stories and review, all those things would give her a smile.

**Chapter 6- The Story of Two Faces**

Isabella Swan

Black eyes.

Thirsty eyes.

A killer's eyes.

Out of all the freaking Cullens, why couldn't Jasper have been the one with those eyes today? Wasn't it bad enough that they had A. Marks' appointment rescheduled? Did the greater...whatever they were, enjoy watching me get drained by vampires?

Earlier that day, I saw that Edward wanted to sink his teeth into my skin, the moment I'd seen his eyes. For the first half of class, I'd wondered where Charlie was. Surely, if he was going to drain me, he'd have to kill the witnesses, right?

Looking back, I should have known everything would be okay. Charlie never showed up, and I left the class with the same body I showed up in. I was grateful, at the time, for the fact that I wasn't forced to endure the pain again. Now, though, as I stared in the mirror, I kind of wished he had just done it. Back in Phoenix, I had been too busy to take much notice of my physical appearance, and I had to say, the current one was lacking.

My arm moved up and down as I brushed the tangles out of my hair and tried to calm myself down from all the disastrous events of the day. At first, my eyes had been staring through the mirror, not really at it. Then I began to look. I looked at my eyes, which were close to the ones I possessed in my human life, but not quite the same. They had never been the same.

In my human life, my first life, I had believed brown eyes were just brown. Over the decades, though, I began to see the differences. It was hard not to when you see varying shades staring back at you from each reflection.

My hair, like my eyes, always stayed brown, with only the shading and highlights changing. Would it really have hurt anyone to let me become a redhead for a little while? Or a blonde? I had never really wanted to be a blonde, per se, but just the knowledge that it could happen would've been nice. I mean, if I didn't like it, I could've just gone and found Jasper and had him drain me, right?

Oh, that was such an awful thought. I was as bad as those women who have plastic surgery. Searching for a quick fix instead of learning to accept how I looked. I closed my eyes before taking a deep breath and trying to look at my own face objectively. I could see myself in the reflection, kind of. If I squinted and tilted my head.

She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't me. I took it all in, piece by piece. My eyebrows had a nice height to them. My ears looked relatively even, and my nose...

"Does my nose look off to you?" I asked Mike as he walked into my room.

"Of course not, you know I've always considered you quite the looker," Mike replied in such a typical guy fashion that it just annoyed me.

I quickly lobbed my hair brush at him before pointing at the mirror. "Not _my_ nose, Mike!" I emphasized the word my by using my now free hand to point to my actual nose. The nose that Mike and all other reapers could see, even though I was forced to stare at the other me in my reflection. The one the rest of the world saw.

"The nose in my reflection!"

Mike approached cautiously; almost as if he was afraid I'd pull a second brush out from behind my back and throw that one at him as well. He made his way to my side and then stared at my reflection. He scrutinized my face in the similar fashion I had done only moments before, but I didn't like _him_ doing it.

His eyes squinted and his head tilted, and if it wasn't so annoying, I would probably have found humor in the fact that I had done the exact same thing before he came into my room. Why had I asked his opinion, anyway?

"I dunno." He shrugged, thus proving my own point to myself that I shouldn't have bothered asking him. "All your bodies look about the same to me."

Of course he would think that. I used to think that, or at least I had thought that up until this afternoon. What changed? I let my mind wander back to the events of my first day at Forks high while pushing myself away from the reflecting glass.

_Biology had been a disaster, of course, and gym was no better. After school, though, in the office, that had been when things got really odd. My slip had been signed by all the teachers; all I had to do was turn it into Mrs. Cope._

_It was a stupid procedure if you asked me. I mean, couldn't she just call each of the teachers to confirm I had made it to class? Or better yet, email them? With the technology we had today, the fact that I needed to show her physical proof of going to each class was ludicrous._

_I was going to, though, because the last thing I wanted to do was cause problems for Charlie and Mike when they were obviously happy in this small town. So I went back to the main office. But Mrs. Cope wasn't alone, Edward was there, and it sounded as if he was trying to get his science period changed._

_I quickly crossed my fingers, hoping Mrs. Cope would let him. I came to Forks to pop a soul for Jasper, not to have to play nice with Edward. But if he started killing again, then maybe..._

_I stopped that thought before it could get any further. I had already accepted that I would not be moving on, hadn't I? My mind had been so back and forth since I had gotten the damn post-it that now I wasn't sure what I wanted anymore. One thing I was sure of was that it did not involve Edward Cullen._

"_I'm sorry, Edward, but Mr. Banner already has a full class for that period."_

_I realized quickly he wasn't going to get his way. So while he had all day to sit around and try to persuade the old attendance woman, I was sick of this place. I shoved past him and handed Mrs. Cope my signed slip._

"_Thank you, Marie," she replied sweetly._

_I turned back around to leave the building, but Edward was blocking my path. His coal-like eyes bore into my face while the rest of his body seemed to have become rigidly still. He'd stopped breathing, but why?_

Vampires certainly are odd,_ I thought before I did a quick eye roll._

_I was almost past him when he reached out to grab my arm, forcing me to look at him again. His eyes did one final sweep over my face then flickered back to Mrs. Cope who looked flustered and seemed to be reaching for the phone on her desk._

_Edward was oblivious to the fact that she was most likely about to call the principle. Instead, he was focused on something neither myself nor the old woman behind the desk could see. One agonizingly long second later, he released my arm and his breath._

_I thought it came out sounding like a groan of annoyance._

That was it. I don't know why I'd let it affect me so, why I'd let _him _affect me so. I did, though. I couldn't help wonder what it was he had seen. Sure, my new appearance wasn't anything special, but it wasn't awful either. She.._.I_ was attractive, in my own way.

Wait.

_Why do I care if he finds me attractive?_

Throwing myself onto my bed, I buried my head in a pillow and let out my own groan of frustration. That vampire was going to be the death of me, death by annoyance. Surely if mythical creatures could exist, and I could still be here after being killed by one, then I should be able to die via annoyance. Right?

"Bella, Mike, get down here for some dinner!" Charlie's voice bellowed from downstairs.

I looked up from my bed to see Mike standing just inside my doorway, watching me. He had a look on his face that clearly said he thought I had lost my mind. I jumped up out of bed, and then abruptly landed on my ass. Apparently my balance quota for the day was up.

"Bella, are you...okay?" Mike asked slowly.

I quickly rolled my eyes before getting myself up off the floor. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

I replied to his question with a quick nod and then began to descend the stairs.

Charlie ordered pizza, and while I was not particularly in the mood, anything had to be better than the garbage they attempted to pass off as food at school.

~~DLY~~

Apparently, my odd behavior and mood hadn't escaped Mike or Charlie's notice at dinner. They both insisted I stay home the next day, but the fact that reapers couldn't get sick convinced them I was fine. Well, not fine, exactly, but they dropped the 'me needing rest' arguments.

Mike had mentioned a couple of times he met a reaper who was a head shrink in Seattle during a day trip. I was personally going to help him find his way into a new body, if Charlie hadn't stepped in. He reminded Mike I had a hard time the day before, and we were each entitled to a break down once in awhile.

So the next day I found myself back at school, and a shudder went through my body at the mean thought of the word. I wanted to go back to Phoenix, but leaving as quickly as I had come would have raised too many questions. I stepped carefully down from the Beast, which I had officially dubbed my truck, and sent a silent thank you to whoever was in control of my balance. They apparently were taking some pity on me today.

As soon as I closed my door and faced the parking lot, I saw them. They were all staring at me, and I shamelessly returned the favor.

It wasn't until I felt Mike's hand on my shoulder, shaking me, that I realized I was still staring. My eyes were locked with theirs. Not theirs...his.

The others were looking at me with mixtures of curiosity and annoyance, but his...his held more. It was something I couldn't understand. There was curiosity on the surface but beneath it I saw a gleam that hinted at knowledge. Anything he might know about me was more than I could bear. For one bone-chilling moment, it felt as if he could see me. The real me.

I once thought the story of my life was simple enough. I was created to clean up after Jasper, but as I stood there staring into the eyes of the man across the parking lot, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe my story was only just beginning.

_**Edward Cullen**_

It was hard to get used to the obvious fact that the Marie Swan I saw was not the same one everyone else saw. I scanned through the minds of every student in Forks high school, along with the faculty, searching for someone else who had seen the heart-shaped face and uneven lips. I came up empty and I found it frustrating.

I focused so hard on her appearance that it was almost an entire day later I realized there was something else off about her as well. I couldn't hear a single thought in her head. People tend to think there aren't a lot of thoughts going on in a teenage girl's head, but the truth is they never shut up in there, it's just rarely interesting.

She stood there staring at me from the parking lot. I could see her face unlike any other and I thought what a shame it was, as my version of her was much more comely. The boy next to her placed his hand on her shoulder and I wanted to growl. The beast inside me called out for her to be mine and the blonde boy next to her was touching my claim.

He looked at her and I saw through his eyes, he saw her as I did. That only made my monster angrier. She had turned from me but he hadn't. I dove into his mind, seeing if I could find something there that would tell me why we were the only two who saw her as we did, but all that came out of his thoughts was 'don't look at her boobs, don't look at her boobs'.

Teenage boys were just as useless as teenage girls.

I looked over at Alice and she was still watching them as well. When I looked into her mind, I saw two separate people from the ones I'd been staring at. I whipped my head around only to catch them walking away.

"Not human, Edward," Alice chastised me at my speed. I quickly regrouped myself and walked off casually. The thoughts around me told me I hadn't been spotted.

I didn't see Marie again until Biology class. I was still not totally prepared for her delicious scent when she sat down next to me, but the other mysteries surrounding her were weighing on my mind and helping control my hunger.

"Hello," I said to her as she settled into the seat next to me. She eyed me warily, blinking at an odd rate.

"Hi," she finally replied, plopping down her books in front of her.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself yesterday, I'm Edward Cullen."

"Really?" she replied, "We're going to do this? Okay, I'm B...Marie Swan."

She found something about our introductions humorous and I couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of joke that I was not privy to. I decided to ignore it for now, if there was any chance of me learning her secret, I would have to tread carefully. I didn't want her to think I was asking her out again, so I kept the topic to something more general.

"So, you enjoying the rain?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're asking me about the weather?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

She kind of smirked up at me, but then thought about her answer. "I used to hate the rain, and the cold, but after living away from it for a while, I actually kind of missed it."

"You came from Phoenix?" I asked politely. Of course everyone already knew the answer to that, any news travels fast in a small town. Even faster when you can hear everyone's thoughts. Well, everyone's but the brunette enigma sitting beside me.

"Yeah, I lived there for a couple years." She looked out the window and sighed at the rain coming down. "And I guess some days I do miss the sun." She pushed her hair back over her ear and I thought she looked older than her seventeen years would suggest as she reminisced about the weather.

I watched her reflection in the window as her dark hair fell around her face, her eyes looked wise. She was really beautiful; it was a shame I was the only one who could truly see it. It almost felt like a privilege, until I remembered the other boy.

"It seems like you've made a lot of friends already," I said, trying to keep the ire out of my voice.

She looked at me quizzically. "I have?"

"You were with that boy before school today, what's his name..."

"Mike?" she asked with an amused face. "He's my step-brother."

I was about to ask her about why her step-brother wanted to look at her breasts when the teacher started talking. He handed out some slides and gave us a worksheet to fill out. I was glad as this meant I had some more time to talk to Marie and get to know her.

I handed her the first slide, using this as a reason to start hedging information out of her. I looked into her eyes and she met my gaze back.

"You have very nice eyes," I said. She blushed and looked down, mumbling her thanks. "Such a unique shade of brown."

Her eyes snapped up to mine but then she looked away. "They're just brown."

She shoved the first slide under the microscope and peered into the eyepiece. I leaned in close to her. The scent of our kind can help lure our prey. I wasn't proud to be doing it, but I thought maybe if she caught my aroma that my flirting would fair better than it had yesterday.

"Anaphase," she said, looking up at me. When she saw me close, she didn't flinch or blush like I thought she might. Instead, she narrowed her eyes.

"Do you mind if I check?" I said, smirking.

"Go right ahead," she answered, sliding the microscope over to me. Her hand grazed mine but she didn't pull back. "Your hand's so cold." If I didn't know better, it sounded like she was goading me.

It worked, I pulled my hand back. "Bad circulation," I retorted.

"Really? You should get that checked out, it could cause problems." She glanced down at the front of my pants and I shifted, sliding my legs back under the desk.

"Maybe I will," I replied. I needed to change how I was going about getting my information. "You know, I like to draw. I was wondering maybe if I could draw you sometime. You don't see too many girls around with perfect, heart-shaped faces."

Her eyes widened and I knew she knew. The face the others could see was round but would not be considered heart-shaped.

"You may have the others fooled, Edward Cullen, but I think you're much too dangerous a boy to be left alone with."

She had no idea how right she was...or did she?

By the end of the day, I had more questions than I did answers. This was becoming a problem for me. Marie had bombarded my every thought. But it wasn't only her secret that moved me. I had verbally sparred with her and lost. It was the first time in my vampire life that had happened, and I couldn't help feel a strange affection brewing for the girl who had one upped me.

I found myself out of my routine. Marie Swan had thrown me off and I was experiencing things I'd never known before. Like daydreaming. With my vampire nature, I could concentrate on many things, but never before had a part of my mind wandered so. I thought about her and her silent mind. Why she was that way. _What_ she was. And I thought of that smell, the siren song of her blood. But more than her blood, I wanted to know why she affected me so.

I stood there on the edge of the school grounds, instead of by the car where I could usually have been found, three minutes after the last bell rang. I wanted to watch her, to see if she had a routine. The moment she walked out the door, I saw her eyes shift to the silver Volvo where my family stood. If I had a beating heart, it would have been pounding in my chest. Was she looking for me?

She let out a sigh and shook her head, looking away. She headed towards her hideous red truck and I knew I should let her go, but I couldn't. I walked quickly towards her, easily catching up to her before she reached her truck.

"Not sure that is road worthy," I said, coming up behind her.

Marie sighed but didn't turn around. "It'll get me where I'm going," she replied.

"I'm not sure," I said walking around her and leaning on the hood of the truck just as she arrived at her door.

She looked up at me and a variance of emotions came over her face, but the one she landed on and stuck with was wary.

"So what are you suggesting then, Edward? Cause I'd like to go home."

"Let me drive you."

She glanced around me at my car, still surrounded by my 'siblings'. "I think your ride is full, thanks anyway." She opened the door and I put my hand in the way to stop her. She didn't even try to fight me, it was if she knew she wouldn't win.

"Well then let me come with you, to make sure you get home safe," I offered.

She snorted. "Why, Edward Cullen, do you think I'm the type of girl who'd just let you drive off with me and drain me of my virtue?" Her words were teasing but her eyes held the truth, and I was certain the word drain was not an accident.

I wanted to confront her, to see what it was that she knew, but I couldn't risk it until I had proof she knew what I was. But more troubling than my own secret to me, was what Marie was hiding.

"Miss Swan, I wouldn't dream of it."

I opened the door for her and she climbed in her truck, and I watched her drive off. She looked at me once in the rear view mirror before turning out of the parking lot.

Alice had a smirk on her face when I returned and I put a stop to it with one look. We piled into the car and headed home. About halfway there, I pulled the car over.

"Sorry," I said. "There is something I need to do."

I left the car door open and headed in the direction Marie had driven off. Speeding through the woods, it didn't take me long to hear the sound of her decrepit truck puttering down the road. The burn in me to see her was fierce; I had to know what she was.

Determined to have my answers, I would have thought there was nothing that could have stopped me from reaching Marie. I was wrong.

The thoughts came to me as I reached the edge of the woods. The picture in their mind was clear, and it was Alice. The thoughts that came after the visual were grotesque. This vampire was tracking Alice, and as far as I could tell, he was headed in the right direction.

I turned around, sprinting for home, the thoughts still bombarding my mind from this stranger.

_She was mine._

_I should have killed her, too._

_I will have my revenge._

When I arrived home, Alice was panicked and Jasper was furious. She had seen a vision of me coming home to tell them what I had heard. Never really knowing her past, Alice was torn between wanting to find this vampire and fearing for her safety.

"There is only one of him and there are seven of us," Carlisle said reassuringly.

"Alice, we will protect you, no matter what," I added.

She looked at me, her eyes filled with hope and thought.

_What if he has my answers?_


	8. Chapter 7- The Story of Marie's Death

A/N- Thanks again to everyone reading and rec'ing this piece. Sorry for the bit later in the day post this week, I spent the day volunteering at a field trip for my daughter's kindergarten class. The slowest kid ever, a downpour and boys being boys left me nearly comatose for the rest of the day.

Big smooshy hearts to my beta Acrosstheskyinstars.

Reviewers are teased.

**Chapter 7-  
**_**The Story of Marie's Death**_

Isabella Swan

The new car in the driveway was a bit of a shock when I arrived home from school that day. Part of me, for just a very short moment, actually thought that perhaps Edwar- I mean that annoying vampire, had something to do with it's presence.

That stupid smirk and golden eyes were going to be my undoing. At first they just looked liked the same eyes I saw each time Jasper had sunk his teeth into me over the past few decades, but after being forced to look into them after school, they seemed different.

I didn't like that.

I didn't want to let my guard down around the annoying teenaged looking vampire in my biology class. Sure, he smelled like spices and was probably the only soul around here outside of Mike and Charlie who could actually accept the fact that I was practically immortal, but that didn't mean I needed to go telling him that!

Luckily for me, all thoughts of the bronze-haired vampire left my head once I walked into the house I was currently sharing with Charlie and Mike. The car out front should have given away the fact that we had a guest, and yet I still found myself startled when she introduced herself.

Her name was Victoria.

"So how long have you been traveling Vicky? Do you mind if I call you Vicky?"

Mike's attempts at flirting with our guest were laughable at best, but she seemed to enjoy the attention. The fiery haired reaper was not used to keeping the company of others for too long. It was evident in the way she held herself and the appearance of her clothing. I saw myself in her, or rather the version of myself that I became during the years that Jasper wandered the world solo.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly. James doesn't like to stay close to towns for long so I rarely get a chance to look at a newspaper before getting my next assignment."

Mike smiled at her answer though I was willing to bet that he didn't actually listen to a word of what she had said; his eyes were trained a bit too well on her breasts. His pupils would move up slightly, then down, following the exact same pattern as her breathing.

"Well you can stay with us for as long as you want to," Charlie offered.

At first I didn't mind our new arrival, but as the conversation continued, I found myself more than ready for her to leave. Victoria was...twisted.

It was the only word I could think of to describe her. She enjoyed her role in the death of James' victims a bit too much. She gladly retold each of them to Mike while including each and every detail.

"I was forced to wait for nearly two hours before the current brought the body back in so I could release the man's soul. Personally I think it's a bit inconsiderate of those in charge to make us wait around so long."

I didn't even attempt to hold back the venom in my voice when I replied to her horrible statement. "If you had popped the soul before the man was killed, you would have been done sooner."

Her blue-grey eyes blinked once then shifted to me as if she was only now just aware of my presence. The spark within them did nothing to ease my dislike for Victoria. She took a sip of her coffee that the trio had been drinking before my arrival, and then allowed a smirk to play at her lips before speaking once again.

"Now, Ella dear."

"Bella, with a B," I interrupted, trying to convince myself that it had been an honest mistake.

"As I was saying, Ella, Where would the fun in that be?"

It was Charlie's hand on my shoulder that kept me from attacking the vicious little wench. I had seen enough fights in my past to make me confident enough in a victory, but when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket, I was glad that Charlie had intervened.

My heart stood still for a moment when I recognized the image of a post-it. Again? This soon? Questions began to flit through my mind, the most prominent being, why bother?

I didn't want to think it, but ever since Alice came into Jasper's life, he seemed incapable of killing. I left my home in Phoenix because of an appointment that ended up being rescheduled. A part of me realized that this one could very well have the same outcome.

At least until I saw the name.

James.

No last name. No last thought. Just James. It couldn't be a coincidence. My eyes flickered up from my phone towards the reaper who was continuing to capture Mike's attention. Today she would be moving on, and unfortunately for her I had a gut feeling that those in charge wouldn't be too happy about how she had been conducting business.

Catching Charlie's eye, I let him know I needed to go. The appointment had been made very last minute, and while I was glad for the excuse to get away from the annoying redhead, I was a bit upset knowing I would likely have to get another identity at the end of this reap.

There really was only one way to get close enough to a vampire to pop it's soul, unless I wished to be like Victoria and release him post-burning. No matter how evil he might be, I just couldn't do that to him. I had to gun my truck towards the highway and pray that I would find James before Jasper found him.

The roads were wet, of course, causing my wheels to spin a bit when I attempted to make a sudden turn. If I was human, I might have worried about getting hurt, instead I was simply worried about not getting to the job in time. The vagueness of where I would find him did not help my dwindling time span.

All I had to go by was a small crossroad just before hitting the end of the town and the knowledge that he would be somewhere in the woods. I pulled over as soon as the roads I needed intersected, and left the keys in the truck. The fact that I was reaping a vampire hadn't escaped my mind. I knew I would not be walking away from this job, or at least "Marie" would not be walking away from it.

The forest was quiet.

Too quiet.

I knew he had to be nearby. The usual sounds of nature were at a standstill. As much as I hated doing it, I had no other choice. My eyes scanned the ground for anything that I could use to injure myself. A sharp piece of rock resembling an arrowhead was what I finally settled for. Had I gotten the post-it sooner, I would have come prepared with a pocket knife, but it didn't matter. This was going to hurt no matter what.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, warning me I had only two minutes left. I inwardly cursed myself for not leaving it in the truck as well, before pulling it out and throwing it as hard as I could at a nearby tree. I only hesitated for a moment. I knew I would have to get a new one, and I couldn't take any chances of a hiker finding it with "Marie's body". The back cracked open and I hoped I had done enough damage for it to not be powered back up.

With no time left, I bit into my bottom lip before forcing the sharpest edge of the rock into my wrist and dragging it backwards. The pain was blinding. I could feel as the jagged nature-made weapon tore at my flesh. It wasn't anywhere as bad as the pain I felt seconds later. The rock had done it's job.

A blonde vampire appeared in front of me. For only a moment, he looked torn, his eyes darted towards some direction behind me and then towards my wrist. I knew the instant his blood lust won out. The pulse point at my neck burned as his teeth cut through my skin with no resistance. I used the last of my strength to reach up towards his face. My fingers barely skimmed along his cheek bone as my current body shut down and the world faded to black.

_**Edward Cullen  
**_

Alice paced the floor as she flew through choices in her mind. Unable to get a clear vision of whether or not she would get the information she wanted, Jasper was determined not to let her anywhere near the woods.

"He wants to kill you, Alice. He's not going to sit down and tell you your life story," Jasper reasoned.

Alice looked up at her husband with wide eyes. "But what if he can't help but tell me. The instant he sees me he may have memories of it all, and if he does, Edward will be able to hear them."

"Is knowing worth risking your life over? Leaving your mate alone?" Jasper didn't manipulate with his tone, he was simply asking.

Alice looked thoughtful, she knew that Jasper was right but she couldn't help asking, _what if? _"Can't we just try? There are seven of us and one of him. If it's too dangerous once we get close I'll see," she pleaded.

"Let me go out and do some surveillance first, we need to know what we are up against," Jasper conceded, and Alice's eyes brightened.

Jasper left immediately; waiting would only put us at even more of a disadvantage. If the male was truly after revenge, he wouldn't wait long. The room was quiet save for the sounds of the thoughts around me. When Alice's mind when quiet, I knew what was coming. Another vision.

_The blonde vampire's head jerked to the side, sensing something. With a sinister grin he headed to the right. I watched him run and pounce on...nothing._

Marie.

My eyes flashed to Alice's and then I was out the door.

With my incredible speed I still felt as though I was running in water. I couldn't make my legs pump fast enough. I could still see the vision as it burned in my mind's eye. The mix of cedars and spruces haunted me; I knew the area of woods in the vision well. I had passed through that spot hunting many times and my perfect memory drove me there in as straight of a line as was possible. I only hoped that I would make it in time.

The wind licked at my skin, I could almost feel it slowing me down, just a little. Would it be what caused me to lose her before I even really knew her? I leaped over a fallen log and darted around a cluster of spruce trees. I was almost there. _Hold on Marie._

I saw her through Jasper's eyes just before I reached the scene. She lay limp in her killer's arms and now the man had his sights on Jasper.

"Jasper," I called out.

By the time I reached the clearing, they were gone. The only proof that they had been there was the small body that was left crumpled like a piece of litter. Anger ripped through me, thoughts of revenge infected my brain. I was going to rip him limb from limb. My mind was already on the hunt but instead of chasing him, I found myself beside her frail body.

I knelt down by Marie, her hair covering her face. It looked as though he had stolen even the life from her locks; the vibrant brown I was accustomed to was now a dull ash. My fingers trailed over her cheek , pushing the strands out of my way. As they fell to the ground, I inhaled in shock.

The face that stared at me was not one I had ever seen with my own eyes. It was the same face that everyone else had mirrored in their thoughts. I wondered if I had truly seen her soul, and if I had, I had proof it was gone.

My fury built as I thought about the answers that I would never gain, the woman I would never know. The only person who had brought me any kind of interest in decades was lost. I would never see her sit next to me in Biology again, never hear her snarky comebacks, and never smell her tantalizing scent.

Determined that it would be me who ripped this vampire apart, I took off into the woods. It didn't take long before I could hear Jasper's thoughts and I headed in his direction. My legs pumped fast and hard under me, I didn't feel any strain, only the power of my speed. The fight was in full swing as it played out through my mind. The blonde vampire dove at Jasper, and I thought he would connect, but then Jasper flipped gracefully over the murderer, grabbing his head and severing it from his body.

"Nooo," I screamed as I arrived, but it was too late. I was denied my vengeance.

Like a man possessed, I stalked the body, I grabbed an arm and ripped it from the socket, sending it flying back into the trees. My chest was rising and falling in an angry pounding. I snarled and bent, grabbing a leg, when Jasper spoke.

"Easy, Edward. He's dead."

My anger didn't dissipate, instead Jasper's words only fueled my rage. I sank down to my knees and started clawing at the body. I tore flesh and limbs from the carcass until I smelled the fire burning. I looked behind me and Jasper was quietly picking up my scraps and tossing them on the flames. As the pieces burned my fury cooled, until I simply picked up what was left of the body and tossed into the inferno. Once the flames died down, Jasper and I gathered some wet leaves to throw on the embers.

"Thank you," I stated simply. Jasper had let me have my emotions, he had felt them and didn't try to overpower them. He had let me have my release and I knew he would never ask why, which I was grateful for, because the truth was I had no idea why I was so upset at Marie's death.

She was an enigma and there was lots I wanted to learn about her, but my reaction couldn't be related to such a scientific interest. It was visceral and real and I hadn't felt that strongly about anything for a long time. I mourned the woman who had brought life back into my body, who created breath where there was no need. There would never be anyone like her and the emptiness of that thought only illuminated how full she had made me feel. Though our time had been short together, I would never forget it.

When we arrived back at the body, I almost expected it to be gone, the mystery surrounding Marie befitted an unusual ending, instead all that was left was another human body just a short time away from decay.

I looked down at her fragile form, and even though it wasn't the one I knew her in, I still mourned the loss of life inside it. A vampire tends to grieve differently than humans, it's not what we lost but what we missed out on. I was used to people dying, but where the regret laid was in what would never happen.

Marie would never graduate; she would never annoy another young boy with her wit, and I would never kiss her. I hadn't know I even wanted to until the choice was taken from me. Sighing heavily, I took a step back from the body and turned to Jasper. His fingers were dirty and beside him was a hole, about four feet deep and just big enough to rest her tiny body in.

"This isn't right," I said coldly.

"She can't be found, Edward. Too many questions."

I nodded because there was no other option. He was right. For the safety of our family and the secret we carried, Marie Swan's body needed to disappear without a trace. I walked over to her and bent down, sliding one arm just under her knees and the other around her back. I cradled her as I carried her; it was completely unnecessary but I couldn't handle her any differently.

I heard my family approach just as I started to replace the earth, covering her body. I looked up and Alice gave me a small smile. She had seen what I had been thinking. Once the ground was flat and the dirt covered the loss, I spoke.

"Marie Swan was unlike anyone I've ever met. I couldn't hear her thoughts, but I think that even if I could have, she would have kept me on my toes." I plucked a small flower from a nearby bush and placed it on the grave.

Alice took a step forward. "I really thought we were going to be friends." She let out a humph and stepped back.

Jasper wrapped his arm around his pouting wife and said, "You always smelled really good."

I growled at him but Esme cut me off as she took her turn. "You brought life back into my son. Thank you." I looked over at Esme, shocked. I didn't realize that the way Marie affected me was seen by my family.

There was a pause and I looked up at Rosalie. She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "This is stupid, I didn't even know her." Emmett elbowed her and she leveled a sharp look at him. "Fine. I'm sorry you're dead."

Emmett cleared his throat next. "You had my boy here in a tizzy. I think we could have had fun together. Rest in peace, small fry."

Carlisle spoke last, stating that the loss of human life is always a tragedy. He recited a quick prayer and then they left.

I stayed a few more moments at the grave. Marie was gone and there was nothing I could do about it, so I left her there and went home, feeling more dead inside than usual.


	9. Chapter 8- The Story of an Enigma

A/N- A big hug to my beta acrosstheskyinstars.

I have some of the best readers! Seriously, some of your reviews are the type that keep a writer writing.

Reviewers get teased!

**Chapter 8-  
**_**The Story of an Enigma**_

_**Isabella Swan**_

"Holy mother of- grrrr!"

It had hurt, of course. I knew it would. Death by vamp was never anything less than painful, but what made it worse was the sick sense of humor the powers above had.

My new body had appeared not too terribly far from where I parked my truck, and though I didn't know what I looked like yet, I did know that my new body had come with clothes that were definitely not appropriate for the woods.

High heels.

I didn't realize I had been wearing them until I spotted James' soul running toward me and attempted to take a step forward. The stupid heel got stuck in the mud and I fell face first into the forest floor.

The growl of annoyance coming from my own lips was only interrupted occasionally by James attempting to attack me. Apparently he wanted dessert. I could see his form coming back and forth through me as I worked at freeing the stupid heel. He shouldn't have even been feeling the blood lust any more so I wasn't quite sure what his problem was.

"How are you doing that?!" he yelled in an almost menacing voice after the third dive.

I was sure it would have sounded menacing to others, but when he couldn't even mess my hair, it made him about as scary as a butterfly.

It wasn't until his tenth dive through me that I started to get really aggravated. There I was, laying at the edge of the forest covered in mud, wearing heels of all things, and the freaking soul I had popped before being thrown into this mess was attempting to attack me.

"James, you're dead! Not undead, just dead. So can you stop playing around long enough for me to figure out my next move?"

This was the part I hated, back in the early days I would simply send the soul on their way and walk back home, not worrying about leaving evidence behind, because one more dead body didn't raise flags when there was a war taking place. Today, I couldn't just leave my old body in the forest to be discovered, so I knew I would have to return and clean up the evidence. I quickly patted my pockets uselessly wishing I still had my cell. I knew it wouldn't be there, but it didn't stop me from searching for it out of habit.

With a squelching noise I managed to pull myself up and tossed the useless footwear away. I wish I could say that I managed to get the filth off my hair and exited the forest with my head held high, but that would be a lie. No, instead I merely spread the murky brown junk, that rich women actually pay to bath in, along my arms as I rubbed them up and down to warm myself while climbing back into my truck.

A quick glance in the mirror had me doing a double take. This was the closest I had ever seen my features come to looking the way they did when I was alive. Besides on Halloween.

I drove the truck home knowing it wasn't the wisest move.

I knew if any of the kids from school saw me behind the wheel and questioned where "Marie" was, I would be opening up a whole new can of worms, but quite frankly by that point I really just didn't care. My heart was still pounding from the rush of everything, it was actually pounding faster than I was used to; perhaps this body came with one of those hummingbird hearts I've read so much about in poems. Was it not only a few hours ago that I thought my biggest problem was the annoying vampire who sat next to me in biology? It seemed so insignificant now.

James wasn't behaving any better. His hands kept ghosting right through my neck as he tried and failed over and over again to strangle me. I had learned patience over the years when it came to waiting for a soul to move on. Now I was losing it all. The bright, pretty lights were overdue in my opinion.

"What happened to you?" Charlie asked as I made my way into the house.

My eyes flickered once towards James who was now attempting to grab Charlie's gun, without success, of course, and then back to my surrogate father. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Got a straggler huh, Bella?" Mike's annoying tone asked in a way too perky voice before dropping to a semi-normal level, "Is this why Vicky disappeared?"

I just nodded my head, too exhausted to talk about it, as I made my way up stairs towards the much desired shower. Mike's voice was the last thing I heard before I shut the door to wash away the stress of the whole day.

"Shame, she was kinda hot."

Showering did not give me the relief that I was hoping it would. I spent the first half screaming at the top of my lungs. After James made yet another attempt at, 'not letting me get away', Mike came bursting into the already crowded room wanting to save me. I had never appreciated the invention of shower curtains as much as I did at that moment.

The last couple of minutes were spent quickly washing off and then redressing as fast as possible. When I finally emerged back downstairs it was to see that James had finally settled down enough to listen to Mike and Charlie as they explained the fact that he had died to him, in much more detail than I had taken.

"So you see, once you're ready, your soul will move on to he- well, wherever it is you're going to go," Mike stuttered out.

I could tell from his triumphant smile that he was proud of himself for his explanation. I was sure he had practiced it several times in the past, for the impossible chance that Alice would actually give him a soul to reap. James' eyes darted back and forth between the front door and the kitchen, as if he actually believed he could escaped his death.

I glanced at the clock before quickly calculating how long I had been stuck with him already. It didn't take long to realize that something was keeping him here. One deep, calming breath and a small stride later,I found myself sitting across from the jittery soul trying to pry whatever his issue was out of him.

"She was _supposed_ to be _mine_!" he hissed nearly a half hour later as his story came to a close.

James had apparently been the vampire responsible for Alice's change, not directly, but his actions had lead to her being turned. Even Mike's usually cheerful demeanor began to crack as he heard the plans the twisted soul before us had made for the tiny undead woman. I would never know what he was like as a human, but as a vampire, he was evil. Pure, undiluted evil.

From where I sat, it was clear that if James had ever been able to meet his reaper, they would have gotten along perfectly, if she had been able to handle him draining her constantly, that is. Mike's jaw opened and closed several times before he finally managed to squeak out her name, only it came out as a question.

"Alice?" He seemed to grip the sides of his seat tighter in preparation for his actual question. "You wanted to do that to her, to Alice?"

James' eyes lite up in a way that made him look like a demon. His tongue swiped across his bottom lip in either habit or a useless attempt to wet them. He looked hungry, not in the usual sense, in a way that even made me feel cold.

"I always win, and I like to enjoy the game along the way. If _he_ hadn't changed the rules of the game by turning her, then she'd have become a pile of ash decades ago. I've found her again though, it's taken awhile, but I found her."

"So?" Mike replied this time. I could actually hear the anger in his voice.

I was once again reminded of the difference between him and me. I had always wanted to move on, until recently. Now I would accept whatever happened, Mike had never wanted to move on. If Alice died, his current existence was over. James' threat may have been about Alice, but as far as Mike was concerned, it may as well have been directed at him.

"So, I can finish it! I can-" He was interrupted by a growling voice I didn't even know existed inside the blonde haired boy beside me.

"You're dead! You are DEAD! D-E-A-D! Dead, dead, DEAD! You lost, you sick monster! You lost, and the game is over!"

It took a moment to realize that the sudden darkness in the room wasn't in my head. Mike's words had done it. Even if it was only for a moment, James had realized that he had nothing left he could do on earth. Instinctively, my legs pulled up onto the chair beneath me as the dark creatures resembling a black mist encased the room, ready to take their newest brother home.

There would be no magnificent light show for James. I had seen this before, of course, but not nearly enough to keep the chill from running down my spine. I should have been used to this part by now as well, not all vampires simply did what their instincts called to do. Some were just more demented than others. Some, like James, were nothing but pure evil.

I could feel all the goodness, hope, and love from the room being sucked out as it was filled with fear, loss, lies, despair, and gut wrenching cries from the eternally damned. My teeth bit into my tongue as my eyes closed tight. It didn't matter if I saw what was happening, I could see it all playing in my mind.

Shadows, dark, black creatures would flow from the ground like spilled ink, claiming one of their own with no sympathy. I resisted the urge to cover my ears as he began to uselessly plead with them. He cried the way I imagined some of his victims had in the past. He would know exactly what he put each of them through, but unlike his victims, his torment would never end.

"Noooo! I'm not ready! It's not over! Noooo..."

The sound of James' voice faded away along with his existence. All I could hope was that when it was my time, I would not be met with the same fate as him.

The rest of the night in the Swan household was much calmer. Charlie and Mike made plans to spread the word about how Marie returned home to Phoenix. First, of course, we had to dispose of the old body. We couldn't risk being seen, so it was just after two in the morning that we found ourselves searching the forest with flashlights.

"Are you sure this is the right area?" Mike yawned out, he was exhausted.

We had been out looking for...well, me, for over an hour already. My new body, like my old one, was no more graceful in tennis shoes than it had been in heels. I had fallen twice over raised roots and managed to get so turned around that it wasn't entirely too unrealistic to suspect I had actually managed to get us lost. My mouth opened to reply but it was Charlie's voice I heard before my own.

"Isn't this your phone?"

Two sets of lights were redirected to join the one that had first landed upon my sad looking iPhone. The screen was cracked beyond repair, but the back seemed to be still clinging on. I was sure my sim card would be in one piece and was grateful that no one had managed to find it since my failed attempt at destroying it.

The elation at knowing we were in the right place was quickly replaced with confusion and panic though. I swung my arm to shine light on the place where my body should be lying. It was not there. I swung my head from left to right, sure I had to be mistaken. Finally a fourth person was revealed by my searching, sadly it wasn't my old form.

"Nessi?" The red curls bounced around the young girl's head as she skipped towards me with a couple of deer and a bear following closely behind her.

It was obvious the animals were already deceased, yet I had the odd feeling that they would have willingly followed her even before their hearts stopped beating. She looked like a miniature princess straight out of a fairy tale book. Her head cocked to the side as she examined the three of us before a small giggle escaped from her lips.

"Did you guys get so bored that you're trying your hands at my job now?"

Charlie guffawed at the young girl's joke. Whether it was sincere or out of politeness I wasn't sure, but upon seeing how her eyes lit up, I couldn't help but join in. Vanessa was good at her job, of course, and didn't crave human contact the way most of us did. So running into her was a very rare occurrence.

"Nessi, we are looking for my most recent body. Have you seen it?"

"Hmmm," the young looking girl replied as she scrunched up her eyebrows in concentration, "I don't think I have, though..." she trailed off as her eyes darted to the bear behind her. I couldn't see what kind of look she gave it, but the creature lowered it's head in almost a guilty way.

"Though what, sweetheart?" Charlie prompted in that a very paternal tone.

Her eyes fluttered and refocused when she turned back towards us. It was almost as if she forgot we were there. Finally, after what felt like decades of awkward silence, she explained what was going on in her mind.

"I think it may have been eaten?" The statement came out as more of a question, but explained the odd looks the curly haired girl and the beast had been sharing.

Our trio headed home as the first rays of the morning sun began to break through the darkness. We had searched high and low for anything that might suggest my previous body had been moved, or eaten. Nothing was found. No one left the house the next day. Charlie called into work citing "personal" reasons and recited the vague excuse when the school called.

We needed a plan, but before we could plan, we needed answers.

"Let's just report her missing and be done with it."

"It's not that simple Mike, there would be an investigation, and none of us need that right now."

"Let's just say I went back to Phoenix."

"And if 'you' turn up later?" Charlie asked with his eyes narrowed.

It had been his main argument this whole time. Regardless of whether we could find it or not there was still a body out there, somewhere. The fact that my "father" and "step-brother" failed to report me missing would put them high on the suspects list if it ever turned up.

Sighing in defeat, my eyes traveled the room as if the answer would be sitting right in front of me. My eyes seemed to become unfocused as they casually grazed over one useless object to the next before finally stopping on a pen and a pad of paper. The unusually bright sun that had made its presence known on this day shown through the window, causing the seemingly common items to glow. It was literally like someone was trying to tell me they were my answer, and because I became so intent on finding a use for them, that's exactly what they became.

"I'll write a letter!"

Both Charlie and Mike stopped whatever conversation they had been having and turned to me. Apparently I had spoken a bit enthusiastically. My mouth doubled back before my mind could properly decipher what I was attempting to say, causing me to stumble over my next sentence.

"I mean... Marie... I... she... we... ugh!"

My head fell forward into my open palms in frustration. My fingers began to rub at my temples. The fact that none of us had gotten much sleep the night before must have finally been catching up to me. After what felt like an eternity, but was most likely only a few moments of silence, I took a deep breath and forced myself get the idea out of my mind and into the open.

"We tell everyone Marie went back to Phoenix," I quickly held up a finger to calm down Charlie since I could see he was getting ready to interrupt, "but we tell them that she left without a word, leaving behind only a letter. We won't provide any more information than that. Let them all think what they want. Then if my body turns up, it's just a tragic event with no one suspecting you two."

Charlie's eyes scrunched together in concentration while I waited with bated breath for his response. Surely he had to see the logic in this plan. It would work, it had to. Finally, after he must have scrutinized it from every possible angle, he brought up the one thing we hadn't discussed yet.

"And what are you going to do, return to Phoenix?"

Upon my arrival if I had been asked that, I would have instantly agreed, but for some strange reason my mouth wouldn't form the small, single syllable word. How hard was it to answer in the affirmative? Apparently very.

It hurt. It felt as if a knife was twisting in my gut when I even thought about leaving. I tried to reason that I must have missed Mike and Charlie more than I originally thought I could, but it wasn't either of their faces I saw behind my eyes as I pictured myself leaving. It wasn't the hurt expressions they would make that bothered me.

"No," I muttered out in what must have sounded like a half whimper.

If the guys noticed my change in attitude, neither of them wanted to find out what caused it because they both steered the conversation onto the next topic, my new identity.

"She can be my out-of-town girlfriend, Francesca!" Mike explained excitedly while going into details about how I could speak with an accent and tell everyone that we met online.

Only the bile rising in my throat kept me from parting my lips to respond to that unique identity. Charlie was kind enough to come to my aid, by stating that no one would believe that radical tale. Unfortunately, his suggestion wasn't much better. Back and forth they went, and with each name my mind brought forth an unwanted image of Edward saying them.

They felt wrong.

"Isabella," I finally stated, stopping their unwanted suggestions. "I'll go by Bella, and I'll be Marie's...sister. It'll help with the story. People will assume Marie left because I showed up."

"But you haven't used any variation of your actual name in years. You said it made things difficult. Why do you..." Mike trailed off as Charlie glared at him.

"Your name is beautiful, and I think it's good that you have other people, besides us, call you by it for a change." With those final words, Charlie wished the other us a good day and left the room to take a much needed nap.

It took one well placed phone call and another day to get my new identity on paper. Charlie and Mike both returned to their "normal" lives while I was stuck inside on yet another sunny day. The extra day, though, worked wonders. Charlie was able to confirm that no one had found my old body, and between the two men, they told enough people about the new sister's arrival that I was already expected the next day. Mike said most of the students were so excited about yet another new student that they didn't even dwell on Marie's sudden departure.

Try as hard as I might, I couldn't deny that I was excited about the new school day, and even a bit giddy to see if I would still have the same biology class.

_**Edward Cullen**_

My family and I sat around wondering just how to handle the upcoming investigation over the missing girl. Of course _we_ knew she wasn't missing, but that had to be kept under wraps. Carlisle suggested that since I was closest to her, I be the one to answer any questions that came our way.

_No I haven't seen her._

_No she hasn't called._

_We just talked in Bio. I have no idea what her family situation is like._

We spent all night planning and preparing our stories and responses for the police and guidance counselors. It was the first time in a long time that we had new things to discuss as a family, and if it hadn't meant the loss of the only friend I had made in decades, I would have said it was fun. That was also probably why Alice let it go on so long before she told us that we were in for two sunny days. I didn't even have it in me to be upset at her, I had seen the vision through her head thirty minutes before she let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

Time didn't move the same way for vampires as it did for people. With an infinite clock, we tended to be much more patient. However, when it came to the safety of family, forty eight hours was nearly tortuous. What started out as fun, quickly became worrisome, none of us wanted to have to move from our home so soon.

The first morning I spent hunting alone, but when I found myself sitting by Marie's grave, I knew I was in trouble. I placed my hand on the soft ground and went through my perfect memories. I could see each moment that I shared with Marie. The thoughts ran me through the mix of confused emotions she had always brought out in me.

"You're still doing it to me." I chuckled humorlessly.

After a few hours I headed back home, stopping quickly to feast on a deer. My family had not liked how I had spent my day. The less tracks near the grave, the better. They had a point but I hated that once again she was being taken away from me; like a petulant child I sulked in my room.

The next day was spent looking through the local papers and watching the local news. The whole family rarely sat around the television, and when we became aware at how silly it was for all of us to sit and watch, we took shifts. We were all a little surprised that nothing was reported yet, but it wasn't uncommon to wait a couple days when teenagers went missing, even if Marie didn't appear to be the type to run away. Of course her father was the Chief of Police and he could be keeping things on the down low for the sake of the investigation.

Alice gave us the all clear for school the following day and I spent the early morning in my room, humming a new song that I had yet to put to the piano. Emmett opened the door without knocking and I shot him an annoyed look.

"What?" he said. "I knew you weren't doing anything private."

Not wanting to fight, I just shook my head and replied, "Time to go?"

"Are you sure you don't want to stay home another day, man?" he asked. "I know she was your friend."

"People die, Emmett, it's not like I didn't know it was going to happen," I pointed out. "Besides, I can't miss more school, we can't do anything that might seem suspicious."

He just nodded and I followed him out the door. I prepared myself for the onslaught of images and questions that would be running through my schoolmates heads. I was ready to handle anything that came my way.

Anything but this.

_...so weird, she just left?_

_...I wonder if her cousin is just as hot?_

_...her outfit is hideous._

The thoughts that buzzed around me weren't of Marie's disappearance but of a new girl. And what was even more strange, everyone seemed to think that Marie had gone back to Phoenix.

"Alice?" I said, looking at her, wondering if she had seen anything strange. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, showing me nothing with her mind that clued me in.

We made a quick stop at our lockers, and by then the halls were buzzing with students, giving me enough to listen to in the conversations that I learned several interesting facts.

Marie Swan had not been reported missing, instead, people were under the impression that she had gone home. And now, in her place was her cousin, one Isabella Swan, who, through the thoughts of my fellow students, I learned went by Bella. It takes a lot to stump a vampire, but I was truly bewildered.

I searched through the thoughts of everyone as I passed them on the way to class. A few people had seen her, and while she shared the same hair and eye color as Marie, I didn't really see any resemblance. This face was much rounder and her eyes were more wide set. In fact she looked closer to the Marie that I saw than the one everyone else saw. But her appearance didn't matter much to me at all, what I wanted to know was if I could read her thoughts.

There were only two people in school that could give me the answers I wanted, and that meant if I couldn't hear Isabella's thoughts, I was going to have to pick through the idiocy of Mike's mind.

Unfortunately it was Mike who I ran into first. He had his hands in his pockets and his head down as he walked briskly down the hall.

_Stupid other guys...leave her alone__...__fresh meat__...__should have been Francesca._

I shook my head, wondering how to put his words into a coherent thought. That was the problem with reading minds, sometimes people didn't finish their own sentences for themselves. If they knew where they were going with the thought, sometimes it just stopped.

I turned to follow him, hoping that I could fish something useful out of his head when I saw her. Just a brush of brown hair as she turned the corner, and the scent. It was mouthwatering and familiar. I sped my walk but by the time I reached the hallway, the bell rang.

My mouth was salivating, coating itself with venom. It had to be Bella, and yet she smelled so much like Marie. Was it possible to have two people that affected me so? If they were cousins, then it was possible they shared blood, and I was beginning to think this was the tastiest family I'd ever met.

I watched Bella pass through the minds of most of the students throughout the morning, but I had hoped to get another glimpse of her myself. I had not been actively seeking her out, worried that I'd have a similar reaction to when I first met Marie. Of course Alice hadn't had a vision of me attacking anyone so I assumed that was good. But when I heard Mike's thoughts in class that he was meeting her after the period, I took my chance.

I kept my distance behind him, watching him turn down the science wing. At first Mike blocked my view, standing directly in front of the girl, but then he shifted to the side and I came to a halt.

The heart-shaped face.

The expressive chocolate eyes.

The full bottom lip.

Marie.

She caught me from the corner of her eye and looked at me. She raised her eyebrows as I studied her face. I felt my mouth fall into a frown and I stormed toward her. It took her a moment, but then recognition came across her face and she shot Mike a panicked look and fled down the hall. Mike's mind went blank as I passed him, chasing after the ghost. How had she faked her death? Whose body had I buried? And why had she thought I wouldn't recognize her?

Again she was messing with me. I felt elated that she was still alive but frustrated about what had happened. We buried a body and now I wasn't sure whose it was.

Students seemed to come out of nowhere to get in my way as I chased Marie down the hall, but what stopped me was seeing her in their minds. It was Bella, at least it was the same face I'd been seeing in thoughts all day, but I had still seen Marie.

I was certain that Marie was Bella, but how she'd changed bodies was a mystery to me. I had never known of a creature to have that ability, but I was sure that Marie was not human.

But typical with Marie, knowing what she wasn't brought me no closer to knowing what she was.


	10. Chapter 9-The Story of Marie, NoBella

A/N-**waves to the new readers! Hi everyone. Thanks for taking this journey with us. Reviewers will be teased. **

**A big thank you to AcrosstheskyinStars, my super talented beta. **

**Please check out the E/N at the end.**

**Chapter 9-  
**_**The Story of Marie, No...Bella.**_

_**Isabella Swan**_

I wanted to blame the lack of sleep, why else would I have stupidly craved for everyone to know my real name, for _him_ to know my real name? My heart was jumping all day long. New identities always took a while to get used to, but being myself was much harder than I ever expected.

"Isabella?"

The ends of my hair whipped at my face as I spun my head preparing to come face to face with another reaper. Instead I found myself facing an over eager teenager, who had already annoyed me on "Marie's" first day. My hand instantly went to my heart in a fruitless attempt to calm my nerves, before my lips parted to repeat the phrase I had said several times that morning already.

"Bella, I go by Bella."

The young man's face split into a large smile before my preferred name fell from his lips. I knew then that this was definitely a mistake. How could I have ever wanted these kids to know my name? How could I have ever thought I wanted _him_ to know my name?

By the second period, I had been asked out twice. The first time was by the boy I had told my preferred name to. My good mood that morning had gotten me into trouble. Marie hadn't had nearly as much trouble her first day, but then again "Marie" stuck to herself. "Marie" followed the reaper rules and ignored everyone around her, well..._almost_ everyone.

A flash of unnaturally colored eyes popped into my head, but they didn't bring the disturbingly giddy feeling they had been bringing the day before. No, now they brought with them a nervousness. It wasn't the right kind of nervousness, but it was nervousness nonetheless.

By the end of our third period, I realized the assignment I had been given laid on my desk as nothing more than tiny bits of paper. Luckily the teacher admonished me silently, but it was yet more attention that I really didn't need to draw to myself. The bell rang signalling the end of class, and I had to remind myself to check my schedule. Not much had changed, teacher wise, with the exception of one class.

My new forged transcript showed me as having advanced English, which didn't seem like a big deal at the time. "Marie" had had advanced classes and was simply informed that none were available at Forks high school. I was placed in the class for the year above me, though. I read the instructors name to myself three times before taking off to find it. Luckily I was the first one there and was directed to a chair in the back corner.

My luck was turning, or so I thought. As the class began to fill, I quickly realized why this seat had been the only vacant one. The girl sitting next to me was a busy body who wouldn't stop trying to pry information out of me, her most persistent questions happened to be about Marie. She wanted to know if it was true that she ran away with the lead singer of some band that I had never heard of before.

The guy in front of me smelled so horrid that I actually missed the scent of the battlefield from my early reaping days. Luckily, the girl beside me turned to a new target when some newly outed couple sat down on her other side. With my nose hidden behind the sleeve of my shirt, I had almost convinced myself the class was somewhat tolerable, when _he_ came in.

There were no nervous, giddy feelings associated with _his_ appearance, there was only the familiar lingering anger, and resentment. It was not as strong as it used to be, but it was there. I clung onto the familiar sensation like a lifeline, and allowed my thoughts to be fueled by them.

_I wouldn't be stuck in this seat if he hadn't done this to me._

_I wouldn't be stuck in this town if he hadn't met her._

_I wouldn't be stuck in this version of an afterlife if he hadn't killed me!_

_I wouldn't be falling for a vampire if he hadn't..._

My mouth fell open from shock. Where the hell had that _thought_ come from? I wasn't...I couldn't...I would never...

Jasper hadn't looked in my direction at all during class, which I was more than grateful for. The last thing I needed was to see his eyes, the same eyes that forced the treacherous thought into my mind.

_No not the same, _I mentally chastised myself.

I had seen Jasper's eyes before. Many many times, they were hungry eyes, they were hard eyes, they were the eyes of a killer. Edward's were different. I didn't want them to be, but they were. My lids closed as gold began to flood into my head, they were warm, and a bit too knowing. I tried to force them away. I tried to make them turn into angry ones, the black ones from the first day, the day that I just knew he'd try to kill me after school.

_Why hadn't he?_

Always questions, never answers, when it came to him. Did I want answers? One word sat right on the tip of the proverbial tongue, but I ignored it. No, I certainly didn't want answers, not from him, not from any of them. They were simply here doing whatever job the higher powers wanted them to do, regardless of if they knew it or not, and I was going to do mine.

The bell rang and my eyes flew open with a start. I tried to catch Jasper's eye as he left class. I was resolved to see that they had not changed. How could they? Hadn't he just killed another of his kind a few days before. Obviously he could take himself out of the battlefield, but he couldn't take the battlefield out of himself.

His head never turned. I didn't know if he was ignoring me or simply in a hurry to leave the room, though with the fast exit he made I was leaning towards the latter. It didn't matter, though. What would seeing his eyes have proven? I knew what they all were. I had known what Edward was for years now, so how had I ever allowed such ridiculous feelings to start ebbing their way into my body?

It wasn't until I was halfway to the cafeteria that I remembered I was supposed to meet Mike after class. So with a slight change in direction, I found myself hurrying towards the same science wing that I had been oddly excited about this morning. I was there for only a couple of second before Mike came waltzing towards me.

He looked oddly disgruntled. I only had a second to focus on the aggravated reaper though, because a moment later I saw bronze. It was Mike who moved, and it was only out of the corner of my eye that I was able to see it. I knew that hair color anywhere.

My eyes moved of their own accord. He looked confused? Mad? Determined? The first two were baffling enough, but the third set my fight or flight instinct into gear. With one last look at Mike, I decided I could explain later. My feet felt as if they were on fire, and I refused to look backwards as I made my way towards the cafeteria.

It wasn't until I was in line and being asked what I wanted, that I actually recognized my location. My stomach felt queasy, and eating was the last thing on my mind. With a shake of my head, I ignored the woman spooning the goop onto a kid's tray and grabbed myself a small bottle of lemonade instead.

"Excuse me," an unidentified voice said from behind me.

The place was too crowded. I instantly regretted not dragging Mike with me, since his presence would give me a set place to sit. Now I was staring around at the already occupied tables with trepidation. If it wasn't for my fear that Edward would corner me, outside the cafeteria, then I would have already done just that. I didn't even know what he wanted, but my body screamed that it was a good idea to avoid him.

He had other plans, though. Fingers wrapped around my arm, their coolness soaking through the material of my shirt. My breath hitched in surprise as well as a moment of terror. That touch in the past was normally followed by pain, but this time was different. A tingling sensation enveloped my skin as the point of connection was made. It was as if it was sealing him to me. Almost as quickly as I felt it, his hand was gone, replaced with his voice.

"You're sitting with me." Cool air ghosted past my ear as his velvety words danced through the air. It was no more than a whisper but it felt as if he had shouted them. No one near us could have heard them, yet as I followed him towards a table, which seemed to magically empty by his mere presence alone, I felt every eye in the cafeteria on us.

"Hello," he said as lowered ourselves into the chairs of his chosen table.

"Hi?" It came out as a question, but the fact that it came out at all was a big achievement. My heart was still pounding faster than it should have been, but by this point I was no longer sure if it was out of fear.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself yet, I'm Edward Cullen." I tried not to scoff as the feeling of deja vu set in.

"Really?" My eyes darted towards his. I wanted to make a sarcastic retort. I wanted to regain the upper hand in the conversation, before it took a direction that could be dangerous for us both, but the sight of butterscotch erased my mind.

They were not a killer's eyes. They didn't scare me. They felt warm, inviting, tempting.

"B-Bella, I'm Bella."

The butterscotch grew lighter as his eyes twinkled. He knew he was getting to me.

"So, you enjoying the rain?" Was he seriously going to do this? I wanted to stick my tongue out and tell him to get a new line, but settled on clenching my fists.

He knew something was up. I didn't know how, but he knew. I racked my mind to recall how his and Marie's conversation had went. Did I say I liked the rain, or hated it? I didn't want to answer the same thing twice. Even if I did, though, would he remember?

It was after I heard him begin to speak again that I realized I had been silent for a bit too long.

"Different topic then, you came from Phoenix?" He leaned forward as he asked the question. For a moment it seemed as if he was breathing me, before his body stiffened, and he pulled back.

It was only then that I realized we had managed to become much closer than I remembered. Even from our new distance, his cool breath washed over my skin with each word spoken, and every single detail about my newly concocted story flew out of my mind.

Crap.

I tried to think fast. I couldn't recall anyone asking where I had been from yet. At that moment it was best to go with what I knew, and at least I could sort of recall Phoenix. I nodded my head curtly and tried to back away from whatever hypnotic spell he had me under.

"Do you miss the sun, Bel-la," he dragged out my name, causing unwanted shivers to run down my spine. I liked the sound of him saying it more than I would ever admit to anyone.

"Yeah, I guess I do miss the sun."

Did his smile just grow a tiny bit wider? What did I say? I replayed the words in my mind, searching for some hidden meaning he may have detected, but they still seemed as innocent as when I first said them.

I wanted to get away from him, before I messed up. His fingers caught my chin, forcing me to look at him. "You have very nice eyes, such a unique shade of brown."

I should have said thanks, but now I was just angry. He was flirting! First me as Marie, now me as, well...me. Was this some kind of new girl initiation? Did this vampire consider himself some sort of heart-breaker? Was he just playing with me? I jerked away from him, ignoring the tingles. "I already told you, they're just brown. Enjoy your lunch."

As swiftly as I could, I rose up from my seat only to find the cafeteria already beginning to empty. We were late for Biology, but at this point, I no longer cared about going to class.

_**Edward Cullen**_

If Bella Swan was not the same person as Marie Swan, they had a lot in common. I knew I had unfair weapons in my arsenal: my scent, the cadence I could use to speak, and even my appearance. They were not things I went about using to get my way on a regular basis, but when I did, they usually worked. They didn't with Marie, and they didn't this time. Bella seemed to be squirming as I leaned in and replayed the conversation we'd already had before, but then just as I felt I was gaining ground, she stood up and left me, sitting alone in the cafeteria with a full plate of food, and several unhappy teenage girls watching me.

My family's thoughts had been screaming at me through the cafeteria as I grabbed Bella's arm and told her she was sitting with me. None of them could discern what I was doing; I could hear them arguing with hushed voices about why I would take the new girl to the table to talk about weather. Alice had been the one to say that it was my feeling of loss over Marie, that I was trying to replace her with Bella. It was a convenient enough excuse to allow me to do some more digging on who Bella or Marie really was. I wasn't ready to share everything with my family quite yet. I wouldn't have even known where to start.

I grabbed my tray, throwing my untouched lunch in the garbage and heading outside, wanting some time to think about the new puzzling girl. The air was wet with rain, a constant mist decorating the sky. I welcomed the sight as I knew it meant that I would be alone on the grounds. I circled around the school, letting my brain work through all the possibilities for my seeing the same face in both girls. When the few plausible ones had come and gone, I concocted some more unusual solutions.

I shook my head when my brain rounded on the idea that she was a femmebot, cursing Emmett for his countless screenings of Austin Powers. I needed to talk to her again. Was she stumbling because we'd had the same conversation before or was I pouring on the charm too thick? Maybe talking wasn't the way to go. I could be making too much out of this. I wished I was better at letting things go.

I knew when I walked into Biology I must be mistaken. She sat at my lab table, just like Marie had, but she sat in my seat, telling me that she wasn't the same girl.

"You're in my seat," I said with a smile on my face, trying not to scare her.

"Oh! Am I?" she said, being overly obtuse. I narrowed my eyes and reassessed my original conclusion.

She slid over to the other seat, brushing her hair back over her ear, and I thought again how she looked older than her years suggested. With that tiny movement, so similar to the one Marie had done when she sat next to me, I started to believe again that they were the same girl. I glanced and stretched and fidgeted in class as much as I could naturally to get as many glimpses as I could of Bella.

She smelled the same, she looked the same, but even more than that, she moved the same. The way she held her pencil, the way she scrunched her face at the board when she got bored, the way she shot me a look anytime she caught me staring, I was sure that Bella was Marie.

Being one that needed decisive proof for nearly everything, I decided I needed one more test. I waited patiently for the end of class and sat through the bell. Bella glanced at me, looking a little surprised, perhaps she had expected me to take off with the buzzer. I waited until she was almost at the door and then I called out.

"Marie."

She turned, looked at me, and then her face crinkled as she swore under her breath. I stood up quickly to follow her as she turned and ran out the door. I followed her scent around the corridor, finding her standing against the wall.

"You're..." I started but she cut me off.

"Not here."

I followed her in silence, knowing for certain now that I was correct. Bella led me out into the woods near the school. Maybe that is why her survival instinct was off, if she could survive a vampire attack, it would explain why she wasn't scared of vampires.

I had many questions I wanted to ask her and they all categorized themselves in my head while we walked. Once we were firmly into the wooded area, she stopped. I spoke to her back as she stared off into the trees.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Bella Swan," she answered.

"I think we are beyond that, _Marie."_

She sighed and looked at me as she rested her back against a tree. "My name _is_ Bella." Her tone sounded truthful, but I had no internal thoughts to back it up. I was still driving blind with this girl.

"But you were Marie," I finished.

"Yes." Her answer was so quiet that without my vampire hearing, I would have missed it.

I came up behind her, standing closer than most humans would be comfortable with, but I wasn't so sure that Bella was a human. "How?"

"I've been bitten by your kind many times," she said wearily.

"But you are not one of us." My statement was punctuated as a wind pushed past us, delivering her scent to me and proving my point. My mouth would not have watered so if she was like me.

I took one more step closer to her and she turned from me again, resting her side against the tree. Her hair cascaded over her shoulder and I cupped it, pulling it off her neck so I could see the side of her face. Without the link into her mind, I needed another form of communication besides her voice, I had to see her face, but she shivered at my touch so I retracted my hand, giving her space.

"No, I'm not," she replied.

"Will you tell me what you are?" I asked softly.

She turned to me, a pained expression painted on her face. "Edward, you have a secret that you have to keep from everyone. I do, too."

"But you know mine," I said, giving her a crooked smile. "Can't you tell me yours?"

That smile would have worked on any of the other one hundred and sixty-one girls at Forks high, so I shouldn't have been so surprised when all it earned me was a scowl.

"This isn't tit for tat, Edward. My secret allows me to know yours, not the other way around." She looked down at her hands as she wrung them together. "I need to know that you won't tell anyone about me. That I'm Marie...well, that I was."

She looked so fragile and small, I couldn't help but feel for her desperation. If I outed what little I knew of her secret, then would I be causing her to have to uproot, to move again and choose another identity. I knew how much I hated that, I wouldn't do it to her.

"Who would believe me?" I said, clearly stating with my tone I'd keep her secret.

She studied me for a moment, likely deciding if she could take my word. I wanted in her mind so badly as always I was denied.

"Why would you do that for me?" she asked, clearly still skeptical.

I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets, unable to stop playing human for her quite yet. Or maybe it was because she made me feel more human, which was filled with all sorts of irony because neither of us were.

"Because we are friends. I hope, at least."

I felt sorry for everyone at that moment, because the smile that lit up Bella's face was breathtaking, and I was the only one who'd ever see it.

"Yeah," she replied. "Friends."

~~DLY~~

I was ashamed of my actions even as I was committing the motions. Bella said she had a secret, and that meant she couldn't tell me, not that I couldn't guess and I was a man who needed to have my guesses educated. People without an overactive imagination never realize what a burden it is to have one. Turn that person into a vampire, and it's a hundred times worse. Or maybe it was being able to constantly know everyone's secrets that made not knowing Bella's that much harder to leave alone. Regardless of the reason, I was about to do something against all the rules.

I watched from a secluded spot about three houses down from Bella's, having cut my last class, something that I never did unless it was sunny, and waited for Chief Swan to leave the house. I was just about to give up when he walked out in his uniform, got into his cruiser, and drove away.

Taking a quick survey of any thoughts and sounds in the area, I made my way to Bella's house. I walked up to the front door and grabbed the handle, turning it as I broke the door. If anyone were to see, it would look like the door had been left open for me. It was an easy fix and no one would know.

I repaired the door before I made my way upstairs, Bella's scent coming strongest from there. I followed the smell of heaven and ended up in her room. Her space was fairly sparse, a desk and a bed and a dresser. Nothing littered around and a suitcase in the closet. I recognized the room of a nomad, being one myself. Just a few littered treasures and everything else practical.

The first twinges of guilt spread across me as I looked through some of Bella's mementos. Marie's school work was set on the desk and I smiled when I saw the worksheet for the lab we had done together in bio.

I knew I shouldn't be there, and I was about to leave when a flash of yellow caught my attention from under the paper.

I held the post-it up as I studied it.

_A. Marks_

_ETD Monday 12:10 PM_

_EWO 10 minutes_

_Location: Forks High School Cafeteria_

I was sure that this was the key to something but what did ETD and EWO stand for? I put it back and glanced at the time. Knowing that I should leave soon, I looked more quickly, searching for another clue. Tugging at the drawer, I used a bit more strength than I should have and the whole thing flew out in my hand. The inside of the drawer was weighted strangely, as if there was more in the bottom than I could see. A secret compartment. Getting rid of the junk in the drawer, I found a small ring and pulled it, effectively opening the trap door. I pulled out a passport and sighed, this seemed like a pretty common thing to hide but then I pulled out another and another. Opening the little books, I found that they all had different pictures but similar names and faces.

I quickly flipped through some other documents and I could tell with my keen eyesight that each and every one of them were forged. The newest one had Isabella's name on it and the one before it, Marie's.

Once I had looked through everything, I placed them back in the drawer and righted it in the desk. Things were no clearer but I knew I had been right, there was something about this girl. I turned to leave but was distracted by something I saw on the nightstand. I walked over and picked up the photograph, the way I held it might as well have been a ghost. The heart shaped face staring back at me was one I knew and one that I thought no one else did. The picture itself was not a forgery and it was easily older than I was. I placed it back down, not wanting to leave it but knowing I had to, to stay undiscovered.

As I headed out to the woods for a hunt, the eyes from the picture haunted me. I couldn't help but wonder what a seventeen year old girl would need with several different passports.

**E/N- Are you an author? A beta? A bannermaker? The Ficawesome Gift Exchange (FAGE) is coming again soon. If you'd like to participate in the exchange, head on over to Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps, on Facebook and keep an eye out for the signups. **


	11. Chapter 10- The Story of Free Will

A/N- Thank you so much for reading and a huge thanks to Acrosstheskyinstars for her superb beta work.

The FicAwesome Gift Exchange (FAGE) is now accepting sign ups. Check us out on facebook: FanFicAholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps

**Chapter 10-**

****_**The Story of Free Will **_

_**Isabella Swan**_

The world around me began to fade. The sounds around me became muffled. I was moving. The bumping underneath me was familiar, a wagon. How did I get on a wagon?

I sat up to take in my surroundings. Yet there was nothing familiar to see for as far as my eyes could reach. The only person around was a man driving the wagon, and though I couldn't see his face, something felt oddly familiar about him.

"Sir?" He remained stoic when I called out to him, though my voice sounded oddly softer than I intended it to, so I cleared my throat and attempted again.

"Excuse me!" I knew I was yelling, I could feel it, yet the sound that left my voice was no louder than it had been before.

Enough was enough. My legs felt sluggish as they moved, but move they did. Clumsily I managed to stand up and pull myself onto the driver's seat next to...

Jackson?

My breath caught in my throat as my mind raced to catch up with what I was seeing. It couldn't be him, and yet it was. I had a multitude of questions, like how he was here, why he hadn't moved on, but then the wagon stopped. I tuned to ask him why we had stopped, but he was already leaving, and somehow, I had managed to get out of the wagon without even moving.

Having no better idea as to what was going on, I began to look around in earnest. Besides a ton of trees, and a quiet school house, there was a yellow post it hanging in mid air. I quickly looked over my shoulder to make sure that no one else had seen it. I didn't need to bother, though, I was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

"What is this?" I yelled out into the open air, but just like before, my voice seemed to be muted. The post-it flapped in a teasing manner, and I knew that I would get no more answers than whatever it would offer me. Slowly I approached it, but even though my steps were small, I seemed to approach it faster than I should have been able to.

**I. Swan**

**Behind You  
It's too late.**

My eyes widened at the words before me, it took only a moment to realize what the words meant. Leaving the post-it to float away with the summer's breeze, I turned expecting to find someone being killed before my eyes. Indeed I saw a woman, but she wasn't being killed. Had the post-it been wrong? Would another appear in front of me saying rescheduled?

Somehow I knew that wouldn't happen. He wouldn't pass her up. My gut told me that she would die today. I had known that as soon as I first saw her. She was exactly his type, she was standing out in the middle of nowhere, as if she was just waiting for him to end her life. She was brunette and had a kind of resigned look about her. Did she know she was going to die today?

As I approached, I realized she was watching me, freezing me in place. The color within them hit a chord, causing a whisper of words to play across my mind. I shook my head. To argue with the words or block them out, I wasn't certain, all I knew was that I didn't want to hear them.

"_Such a unique shade of brown."_

Right as I opened my mouth to argue with him, I witnessed a movement so fast that it was practically a blur. Jasper had arrived. The post-it was right. I was too late. I attempted to move forward and pop her soul before she had to suffer anymore, but something was restraining me. I tried to pull away from the bars holding me back when I realized that they were hands.

His hands.

Jasper's hands. The girl was me. How had I not seen it before? A brief flash of light pulled my vision towards the golden frame surrounding the mirror before me. I didn't worry about what it was doing here in the middle of nowhere, instead I was mentally preparing myself for the painful feeling of being drained yet again. My eyes closed as his head lowered towards my neck, but the pain I was anticipating never came, instead of teeth sinking into my neck, I felt lips gently pressing themselves against my skin.

What the hell was he doing? My eyes flew back open, as my heart began to race, but instead of the golden haired soldier who had ended my life nearly two centuries ago, my eyes were met with the bronze locks of the man who had managed to see through my facade mere hours before.

I should have been scared.

Even if death wasn't a possible outcome, pain was. The fear never came though, instead all I could feel was comfort. My body relaxed into his embrace. Soft, cool lips danced rhythmically across my pulse point followed by whispered words so soft that I would not have heard them if we had even been an inch farther apart.

"_Can't you tell me yours?"_

I shook my head, hoping he would drop it.

"_But you know mine."_

That was true, and the presence of his lips on my skin was confusing me. It was almost as if my lips were betraying me. They opened, ready to spill all of my secrets.

…

"Bella."

The tenor of my own voice surprised me almost as much as the word that came out. I hadn't intended to say my own name, had I?

"Bella, it's time to get up."

Why did I sound like Mike, and what on earth was that knocking sound?

"We're heading over to the reservation. If you want to join us better hurry up!"

At this point I realized that it wasn't Edward's arm wrapped around me, but a body pillow, and instead of his words, the only thing ghosting across my neck was a breeze coming from the slightly open window. A chill ran down my back at the thought of what my dream self had almost done.

While I wanted to feel relief that I hadn't actually spilt the beans, the fact remained that I really was letting Edward get too close. How much longer could I keep him from finding out? There was something different about him. Aside from the obvious fact that he was temporarily immortal like myself and other select supernatural beings, he had also been able to see through my disguise.

I spent the entire night looking into the mirror trying to find some hint of Marie, but there wasn't any. My eyes flickered once again to the old photograph of my human self.

Heart-shaped.

My face then, before my death, had been heart-shaped.

Once again I wondered if it was possible that he saw me, the real me, beneath the reaper disguise, and if he did, could he see Mike and Charlie as well?

"Last chance, Bella!"

Mike's voice called from below, letting me know that he and Charlie were leaving for the day. Originally I had planned to go with them, but after the nightmare...was it really? It hadn't been unpleasant, though then it probably wouldn't have been as disturbing.

After seeing my subconscious issues, I realized that I needed a day to remember why I was keeping my secret to begin with. Pretending to be a normal human was obviously getting to me, why else was I fantasizing about romance, and spilling secrets, after a few well placed kisses?

Charlie and Mike were disappointed when I informed them that I wouldn't be joining them, but didn't push the issue. It only took me a few minutes before I was ready to leave the house. Unfortunately, finding my destination wasn't nearly as easy.

Somehow I had managed to convince myself that if I could spend time with a real reaper, the ones who actually do more than pretend to be human, that I'd remember how it wasn't just my secret I was keeping. Little did I know that Nessie would be anything but helpful.

"So why don't you just tell him?" If she wasn't a child I would think she was teasing me.

"It's not my secret to tell, it's bigger than just me. Besides, what good does making friends with a vampire do anyway? I'm moving on eventually." I rolled over onto my belly so that I could watch the small girl at work with more ease.

Nessie was reaping today, as I had hoped she would be. Apparently one of the Cullens would be filling up on tons of small creatures because she had been popping souls of random rabbits and deer for a while now. I asked her how she knew which ones she was supposed to take, since they all looked the same to me. Her response was that she didn't have to know. The higher powers did and helped her out the way they were supposed to.

My irritation rose as I wondered why the higher powers didn't help me out of this situation. Didn't they foresee Edward and all the trouble he was causing?

"You are?" Nessie asked. Once again her honest curiosity was all that kept me from assuming she was being sarcastic.

"Of course I am," my response was cautious. I had always assumed Nessie knew that we only had a certain number of souls to pop, "We all do eventually."

"Hmmm." She made a noncommittal shrug that had me wondering if anyone had ever explained how things worked to her.

I slowly pushed myself up off the ground and approached the girl that had become like a distant cousin to me over the past years.

"Vanessa?"

She stroked the ears of the rabbit at her feet before turning her big brown eyes towards me.

"Yes?"

"You do know that this is temporary, right? At some point the lights that take them away will come for you as well." I motioned towards the animals that were slowly starting to leave the clearing to show who I meant by them.

"Oh, Bella," she giggled out while shaking her head, "who says you have to go into the lights?"

_What?_

Her simple statement left me gaping like a fish? Who says? No one has to say, right? I mean we move on, it's what we do...isn't it?

I wanted to ask her why anyone would ever think about not going into the lights, but before I could, she turned and darted off through the forest. I knew she wasn't leaving me, it was just how she was. Nessie was used to moving with the animals, so I followed her as quickly as possible, and soon found her sitting outside a mountain lion's den.

"Good kitty," she crooned as she scratched behind a large lion's ear.

The great, golden cat purred as it allowed my fellow reaper to pop her soul. With her free hand, she motioned me towards them. Slowly I approached and allowed my hand to join hers in caressing the animal's coat. I had never been so close to such a dangerous predator before, at least not without knowing my life was going to end right after.

"Even she knows that life is too short to not make friends while you can."

I opened my mouth to remind Nessie that we weren't technically living, but just like in my dream, it was a male voice that spoke instead of my own, only this time it wasn't Mike.

"Now, I know even my family won't believe this. It's quite obvious that neither of you have any sense of self preservation, or is it simply that you don't need it?"

My breath hitched in my throat as the lion took off out of fear. There were few creatures that could scare a predator such as her, and I knew that the velvety voice belonged to someone who was every bit as dangerous as she must have sensed. Slowly, I turned around to face hungry yet confused eyes. I could tell he hadn't expected to run into me out here, but by judging the slight smile on his face, he wasn't disappointed about our impromptu meeting.

"There's something nice about the simplicity of a child's mind. They don't clutter it with mundane thoughts the way most teenagers and adults do." Edward's statement was beyond bizarre, it was downright creepy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, even though I hadn't intended to voice the question out loud. Something about him made me entirely too comfortable, even though I knew I should be running the way Nessie's new friend had.

As if my thoughts had summoned her, the lion came prancing back towards us, only this time she was without her body. Nessie smiled as she greeted her spirit. Obviously in her afterlife she had nothing to fear from the vampire in front of us. Edward's eyes followed the lion as if he could see her, but I knew that wasn't possible. Was it?

Could he see the dead? Was that why he could see the real me?

I pressed my lips tightly together, hoping maybe it was just a coincidence that his eyes were following our feline friend. It couldn't be, though. Not with how he seemed to be staring. It was like he saw her without seeing her. As if he was staring so hard to make her appear, but she just wasn't doing it. How did he know where she was though? He looked at Nessie, opening his mouth, but closed it again very quickly.

Then, as if in unison, both Edward and Nessie turned their heads towards the east. Naturally, I followed their lead, wanting to see what they saw.

Lights

Bright white lights

It was time for the cat to move on. Nessie gently pushed her towards the dancing orbs. A gentle breeze blew across, rustling some leaves on the ground as we watched her depart. For several moments that was the only sound any of us heard, but eventually Edward broke the silence.

"There goes lunch. Now if you ladies have a moment, I have several questions for you. The first being how did you become grim reapers?"

_**Edward Cullen**_

She had managed to surprise me again. At this rate, Bella Swan was going to give my dead heart an attack.

I smelled my prey, the sweet scent of mountain lion, and then heard a voice? I was about to abort my mission, resolved to stay hidden but then I heard her name. The young voice spoke Bella's name and I was instantly back on track. I could hear Jasper in the distance, his thoughts on his hunt, he had yet to smell the humans. As I approached, I heard the innocent voice again and with it a multitude of thoughts that had my complex mind buzzing.

_Such a simple thing, and they call me a child. Of course I know about the lights, but I know as with everything, God gives us a choice. Why move on? Why not stay and reap and enjoy the world while it's still here._

With the word 'reap', a thousand pictures and images rushed through her head. I watched as she took the souls from animals and delivered them to a set of lights. The animal spirits would bound into their new world and I was left astonished.

I approached and listened for more, I could see Bella through the young girl's mind but she didn't speak. From the snippets that trailed through her thoughts, it became clear that Bella was also a reaper.

I stepped out with determination into the view of the two girls and I spoke with more confidence than I felt.

"Now, I know even my family won't believe this. It's quite obvious that neither of you have any sense of self preservation, or is it simply that you don't need it?"

While I had just seen Bella through the eyes of the young reaper, I was still surprised to see her sitting there with no fear towards the lion that had just sauntered off. In fact, she was more surprised seeing me there than the giant beast. I heard Jasper catch the scent but the lion bolted, taking him away from here, which I was glad for, for the moment.

As usual, I felt myself searching Bella's face for any clues as to what she may be thinking. She was not afraid of me, and I was nearly sure by now she knew what I was. The girl looked at me and her thoughts poured through me. She knew what I was and with that came a plethora of information about Bella. She was a reaper as well, but the child had no images to show me the proof, just memories of conversations. Every thought that she gave me was filled with more and more information, but still not enough about Bella.

"There's something nice about the simplicity of a child's mind. They don't clutter it with mundane thoughts the way most teenagers and adults do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella asked, and I was about to answer her question when both girls turned their attention toward...nothing. The girl's mind showed me what I was missing with my own eyes though, a lion-or the spirit of a lion. I watched the empty space, following the soul through the girl's mind as it headed towards its lights. I looked back at the girl and opened my mouth to speak, but stopped when I saw the lion's send off in her mind. I followed her gaze and could see nothing with my own eyes, but through hers I watched it all. It was fascinating.

I stood there for a moment, deciding just how I wanted to handle this new revelation. I had always been a subtle person, but with Bella I felt that a whole new direction would be better.

"There goes lunch. Now if you ladies have a moment, I have several questions for you. The first being how did you become grim reapers?"

Bella looked at me, and her face registered shock before it turned into careful skepticism.

"What do you mean?" she asked and laughed nervously. "You sound crazy." Her words might have fooled me but her over exuberance of how she delivered them along with the thoughts running through the young one's head had me shaking my head.

I could see on her face that she knew she wasn't getting out of this discussion. The little one patted her on the arm and stood.

"I'll leave you two to talk," she said in a voice that was melodic but with a tone that betrayed her physical years.

Bella seemed more skittish after her young partner left. Her eyes darted around and she looked like a scared deer, which was a poor analogy when I made a habit of eating deer.

"Bella, I know what you are. I just want to know...how?"

I watched as she spotted something with her eyes, and even when she grabbed the rock, I had no intention of stopping her. I knew she couldn't hurt me with it.

"I don't know what you are talking about?" she said, standing and taking a step. Then, with what looked like a well-practiced stumble, I realized what she was doing a little too late.

I hissed as the scent of her blood filled the air and my eyes were drawn to the long incision she made on her forearm. I took a step back, searching for my control and carefully finding it. Bella looked up at me from her knees on the ground.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, and waved her arm towards me.

"Are you done playing around with dangerous things?" I said, feeling angry at the game she was attempting.

"Things, Edward?" she said, annoyed. "I think if you are going to call me a grim reaper at least you can call yourself a vampire."

While I had heard enough in the young one's head to know that they knew about us, to hear her say it with such ease was fairly shocking. I looked at her and she stood there with a challenging look back at me. I was on the cusp of answers with her and yet I could see that I was causing her distress. The gentleman in me warred with the scholar as I wondered if her comfort would win over my desire for knowledge. Luckily I didn't have to choose as she sighed and finally spoke.

"What do you want to know?" She sounded resigned and not happy about it, but she was willing, so I was going to grasp the opportunity.

I reached down and grabbed the hem of my shirt and tore a strip. Kneeling down by her, I let my fingers graze across her arm before I wrapped the strip around her wound and sat back.

"You reap souls?" I replayed the image in my head of the young girl touching the lion and watching the soul disappear into the lights.

"Yes, vampire's souls," she said matter-of-factly, like she expected me to know this information.

My eyes widened and then I narrowed them. "Impossible," I said darkly.

"And yet, here I am," she replied, raising her hands. "Wait, how did you know that I'm a reaper and not that I reap for vamps?"

I debated for a moment and she saw the hesitation in my eyes. "Come on, Edward, you show me yours and I'll show you mine."

Her brash comment cause me to chuckle, and I immediately felt my walls drop, as they seemed to do only around her.

"I can read minds," I stated.

Bella's eyes opened in horror and then a blush crept onto her face, and I was desperate to know what was going on in her mind.

"So," she stumbled. "If you read minds, then how come you didn't know about J..."

I cut her off, "I can't read yours...wait, who?"

"Uh, no one," she said and smiled.

"Bella," I said and sat down near her on a log. "I told you I'm a vampire who reads minds, can't you tell me your story?"

Bella looked anywhere but at me, she looked like she was gathering her thoughts, so I gave her a moment without pushing. When she finally began to speak, she was sitting with her knees up and her arms around them. The scent of her dried blood floated my way and I swallowed my venom down.

"It happened on the day I was to be married." She looked up at me but I kept the emotion off my face, though I couldn't help but feel disgruntled by the start of her story. "I didn't want to be married, so I took off." The story suddenly had my full attention again.

She told me of how she ran and found herself being abducted by two beautiful women, how they fed her to a newborn. I had a sharp intake of breath, as jealous as I felt of her intended, I felt equally jealous of this nameless vampire.

"So then you became a grim reaper?" I asked, clarifying.

"Yes."

"For vampires." She nodded. "So vampires have souls?"

She looked down and then made a face. "Well you do, but a lot of them don't get the lights. Usually the newborns do, but the aged ones, the ones that don't believe in their souls, they tend to go someplace darker. Of course I'm just speculating, it's not like we sit down and have a good chat before I pull the soul from their bodies. The humans I can talk to, but the vampires, well...they tend to eat me."

This was a lot to process. I looked at her and ran over the words she said and wondered if I had heard her right. Even with my perfect hearing, this was too strange to be true.

"Humans? I thought you said you reaped vampires. And you get eaten? But you don't die and don't change? How is that possible?"

"I said I was a vampire reaper, not that I only reap vampires. I am assigned to one vampire and I follow them around and pop the souls of their victims. Sometimes that means other vampires, and I can get eaten, it's kind of a work hazard."

I shook my head, wondering what it must be like to be bitten and drained by a vampire and survive each time. Then I looked at her, and the knowledge that I could taste her and she would live made her proximity a little harder. I could feel the venom rising in my mouth and I wondered if she would let me have a taste...and then it hit me. She was a permanent member of town. She wasn't following around a nomad.

"Wait?" I said, looking at her with wide eyes. "Are you _my_ reaper?"


	12. Chapter 11- The Story of Us

A/N- I really love hearing all your thoughts about this story. And how giddy all of you are about Edward being so frustrated he is left in the dark.

Thanks to my gorgeous beta Acrosstheskyinstars.

If you want to take part in a fanfiction gift exchange, pm me for details. We need writers/betas and banner makers. (Must have a FB account to participate)

**Chapter 11-  
**_**The Story of Us**_

_**Isabella Swan **_

To say that my day had gone as planned would be the same as saying that a toddler banging on pots and pans was music. You could argue any point you want, but even the kid's mother will admit that it's all a bunch of noise. Talking to a vampire, with dirt coating my hands and a jagged rock poking into my rear end, all while a self-inflicted wound stitched itself together under a makeshift bandage, was definitely not how I imagined my day going.

The last stings of pain faded away into nothingness right as Edward asked me if I was his reaper. It was hard to suppress my snort. How much easier would my afterlife be if I was his reaper instead of Jasper's? Charlie hadn't had to reap a soul in decades, and had never done a vampire soul. Even when Edward had been actively draining humans, he had always managed to stay in one area for a relatively reasonable amount of time.

That thought instantly brought forth the image of how I would have become his reaper, and my dream from last night was forced into the front of my mind.

Edward's lips.

My neck.

A shiver ran through my body, and even I couldn't convince myself it was from fear. Something was happening here, and it was throwing us both into dangerous territory. I shook my head to answer his question while forcing my eyes to stare at the ground, which allowed my hair to fall forward like a curtain. The makeshift barrier between his eyes and mine helped me try to gather my wits.

"But that means..."

Whatever line of thought Edward was going with, he didn't complete out loud, instead opting to sit down beside me. It didn't escape my notice that he had stopped breathing. With only the sound of the wind rustling leaves above us, every sound either of us made was amplified. He didn't speak and neither did I.

"Edward, I thought I lost you."

The unexpected voice caused goosebumps to rise on my skin. My body had been trained to expect pain whenever I heard it. I couldn't prevent my head from whipping upwards, and my eyes met Jasper's for a brief second. They were the same color as Edward's yet they didn't cause such odd reactions inside me. He was standing a good distance away from us, luckily. I was almost positive that after our many past experiences, his body was trained to attack whenever it was around a brunette girl, or perhaps it was just me.

"I didn't mean to leave you, but I ran into Bella and-"

"I was lost!" I nearly shouted as the desire to keep my and Vanessa's secrets rippled through my body.

I couldn't take back what Edward had discovered; I was almost positive I wouldn't take it back, even if I could. However, letting the others know was not an option.

Edward turned to look at me, the distance between us was not nearly as wide as it had felt before. His posture was very tense, and so I made a mental note to ask him about it, when and if we spoke again. Plan B was to flee Washington.

Edward's eyes locked onto mine, causing the familiar feeling that I could no longer ignore.

As if a force was preventing him from pulling away from me, Edward continued to stare into my eyes so his back was to Jasper when he spoke again, "And I was just telling her how to get back to the main road."

His eyes softened and the corner of his lips turned up. It was as if he was silently agreeing with me. He would keep quiet, for now. The vampire I did reap for said something else but the words were muted out of my mind as I watched Edward's mouth form one word, "Later."

The idea of seeing him later wasn't entirely unpleasant. In fact, for a few moments I almost felt normal. Like any other teenager, making plans to see some guy that she had been crushing on for months. I was pretty certain I wasn't crushing on Edward, and knew for a fact he wasn't normal, neither of us were. He did want to see me again, and was willing to keep my secret. A giddy feeling welled up from within, and then my brain must have temporarily shut off because the next thing I knew the space between us was gone, and an ice cold chill spread over my lips as they brushed his cheek for just a fraction of a second.

He tensed.

I jerked back.

Everything seemed to become oddly disconnected after that. I knew he was dangerous. I was aware of the fact that his pretend brother was the only reason I had this afterlife. Despite all this knowledge, my world became fuzzy, and all I could think about was the fact that I had given him my first kiss. For well over a century I had walked this earth without ever so much as contemplating what it would feel like to connect my lips to another. Now as the space between us grew wider, all I could think about was how it would have felt if I had kissed his lips instead.

Suddenly neither one of us were supernatural beings who had walked this earth longer than any human. We were awkward, bumbling idiots. Edward stiffly made his way back to Jasper, while I stumbled backwards, putting a good two foot distance between myself and the place where we had previously been sitting. Jasper looked between the two of us, his face giving away no emotion, but the confusion he felt seemed to be coming off him almost in waves. For some reason, I suddenly became nervous.

Nervous that I had placed my lips on a vampire.

Nervous that I had let my guard down around the very vampire I swore I wouldn't do that with.

But most of all, nervous that I was suddenly feeling something, that I had never before believed I was capable of.

I didn't even bother trying to say goodbye, but quickly made my way out of the forest and towards the road for the long hike home. I managed to keep from falling flat on my face with my hasty retreat, but could not manage to figure out where the nerves had come from. It was only a few minutes after I left their presence that my emotions seemed to calm down.

My thoughts were the only company I had on the way back home, but they were far from lacking. My afterlife, or lack thereof, had never felt so out of control until I came to Forks. Yes, it had never been in my control, per se, but it had always seemed that someone else had controlled it. Now though...everything was upside down and inside out. When I came here, all I wanted was to blend in and do my job, but I couldn't. He wouldn't let me.

He was different. It was different talking to him. How many times had Mike hinted to me that we should be together because we were both ex-human, we could speak freely to each other, we were apart of this big supernatural world.

I had never been interested in Mike, though, just as I had never wanted to marry Paul Busch on that fateful day. I had never held an interest in any man, until now.

It was as if an epiphany had come to me. My mind swam with pictures of Edward's face during our lunch together. His voice echoed in my ears as I recalled how each of his actions had truly impacted my life since coming here. I was relieved that the house was empty when I arrived home so that no one would stop me as I ascended the stairs to my room.

My head hurt from all the thoughts, and the pain was intense, but even that was nothing compared to the feeling in my chest. I grasped a pillow to hold tight to as I flung myself to my bed. My free hand rose to my tingling lips, desperate to see if the ice cold feeling left on them was real or simply in my mind.

I had no idea if what I was feeling was real or not. How could I, when I had never felt anything like it before? The fact that he was willing to protect my true identity, though, had sealed the deal for me. I now knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was falling for Edward Cullen.

I, Bella Swan, a grim reaper, was falling for a vampire.

~~DLY~~

Deja Vu washed over me as a veil was placed over my face, and my father appeared at my side. With a firm hand, he soon had me standing and striding beside him at a steady pace. He was leading me towards my future, towards the man that I was supposed to marry.

"Wait!" I screamed, but no sound came from between my lips.

I needed to tell him that this was all wrong. I had already lived this life and escaped, but as I looked up to confront the man who held my arm, I realized he wasn't my father at all.

"Charlie?" I nearly choked on the name, but just as before no actual sound was made.

My feet continued to move on this predestined path as my eyes scanned my surroundings. I was back at the church where I made my flee, before meeting Kris and then ultimately Jasper. Then, as a flash of white caught my peripheral view, I realized I was there, twice!

Across a length of field no larger than the school cafeteria, I saw her. A girl who looked exactly like me, or perhaps she was a ghost, was grasping the arm of the man who had once been my father. Her head moved back and forth as she clutched her chest. I knew instantly she was trying to calm herself. Soon she was left alone and fell to her knees, with her eyes turned towards the sky.

I could recall that moment with perfect clarity. It was the moment I prayed to be freed from a future I didn't want. For proof that true love existed. Just like before, a whistle sounded from behind me, I looked towards the forest expecting to find the bird. It wasn't a bird waiting for me at the line of the forest though, it was a vampire. His name fell from my lips, allowing me to hear my voice again for the first time since this odd time warp began.

"Mar-Bella," he replied, his voice sounding much closer than he was.

"Edward?"

"Are you sleeping?"

"No, I don't think so." Even as I said it, though, I realized my voice sounded groggy, and the scenery around me faded to black before my eyes blinked open. I was in my room, and from the lack of light shining through my window, I knew it was twilight.

"You were asleep," he accused as he leaned casually against my window sill. Slowly I moved into a sitting position and attempted to casually stretch my arms as I denied his claim. It didn't go over well, though. My argument was interrupted by a yawn. His responding chuckle was nice, but once it died away, I knew it was time for us to talk.

"Perhaps I should make sure we aren't interrupted before we begin," I stated, but I was sure even he could tell it was a feeble attempt at postponing the inevitable.

"No one's home," he said before moving as fast as a blur towards the chair beside my desk.

I couldn't help the scowl that spread across my face. Vampires got to move at super fast speeds, and what did us reapers get? A constantly on-call job without pay checks. The supernatural world was so completely unfair.

"If you'd rather not tell me-"

"No," I cut him off before he could misinterpret my expression any further, "you really can't read my mind?"

This time he was the one with the disgruntled look, "No I can't, and you have no idea how frustrating it is."

I refrained from rolling my eyes as I responded, "Oh, don't I?"

"That's different, you're not accustomed to knowing what everyone around you is thinking. I am."

I was forced to admit to myself that he had a point. That really would be frustrating, yet with a smug satisfaction, I found myself enjoying the fact that I was his exception.

"So tell me, since you can't read my mind, how did you know?"

"Know what?"

"Who I am...how did you recognize me?" It was something that had been bothering me. No one else at the school so much as questioned my 'resemblance' to Marie, yet Edward had known who I was.

His eyebrows pulled inward, as I slowly moved towards the end of the bed, diminishing the space between us, "I wanted to ask you the same thing."

"Huh?" My brilliant response was followed by a loss of balance that resulted in me tumbling off the edge of the bed. Edward was faster than the force of gravity, though. Ice cold fingers were wrapped around my waist and pulling me upwards before I could completely register the fact that I had even fallen.

Once I was upright, there was barely an inch of space between us, and every cell in my body was begging for me to close even that. The strange desire must have only existed for me though, because while I was completely relaxed, Edward was stiff. One glance at his eyes, and I could see why. The bright butterscotch color that he had entered my room with was gone, replaced with a black that screamed of thirst. Almost as fast as they appeared, he hid them from me. The only movement he made was to slightly lessen his hold on my waist before his lids opened, showing that the unnatural golden hue was back.

"Edward, are you..." my voice trailed off as I tried to think of how I wanted to end the question.

Okay?

Hungry?

Luckily I didn't have to finish it. He answered the incomplete thought with more than I expected.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean frighten you, it's just your scent."

"You didn't..." I paused about to tell him he hadn't scared me, but changed course when the last word registered, "What about my scent?"

His eyes locked onto mine as he took a tiny breath and made a sound that caused my knees to buckle. The edges of his eyes darkened fractionally, before he visibly swallowed, drawing my vision towards the same part of his 'brother' that allowed us to meet.

"It's like nothing I've ever experienced before."

My eyes remained on his lips as he spoke. How could they look so appealing on him, yet so terrifying on every other vampire I had ever come across? I took my own breath as I tried to keep our topic moving forward.

"Was that how you recognized me? By my scent?"

"No, but it confirmed that I wasn't losing my mind." The thought of a vampire believing he was mad pulled my fuzzy thoughts away from the delectable looking mouth.

"Why would you think that?"

"It's hard to not question my sanity, when Alice sees me talking to empty space, and everyone else in the school sees a different image of you in their heads than me...well, and Mike. Trust me when I say looking through Mike's head is not a pleasant experience."

"Wait...empty space? And see me...you mean...you see me? The same way Mike sees me? The real me?" It was too much, I could feel my head start to spin as I recalled one of our previous conversations.

_"You have very nice eyes."_

_"Thanks."_

_"Such a unique shade of brown."_

"You know, I like to draw. I was wondering maybe if I could draw you sometime. You don't see too many girls around with perfect heart shaped faces."

The clues were there, but I had tried to ignore them. It wasn't supposed to be possible.

"Bella, what do you mean by the real you?"

"First, what do you mean by empty space? Am I invisible to Alice?" Why was it with every statement we seemed to draw each other into more questions?

"Not invisible, but let's stick with us for now. Who is the real you? Marie? Bella?"

I only hesitated for a moment, my teeth sinking so forcibly into my lip that they would have drawn blood if Edward hadn't reached forward and used his thumb to pry the sensitive skin free.

"Let's not tempt fate," his eyes were tight as he spoke.

_Fate_

Destiny

My dream from before he woke me came rushing back to me. The one with the other me in it. The me before this life. The me who laughed at such ideas as true love. I had asked for proof, was it staring me in the face? Had I not been cursed as my mind was always quick to assume, but instead had fate intervened to bring me to someone who made my head spin and spirit light the way that my once upon a time fiance never would have?

"My name was Isabella Marie Swan, and in 1861 I became a reaper. I've had more bodies than I can count and only get to see myself as me once a year. The only beings who are supposed to be able to see me, the real me, during the rest of the year, are other reapers."

It was easier after that. Once I began talking, it was amazing how comfortable I was laying my entire life out for Edward. He listened patiently and then told me his own tale of how he came to be. I never told him who my vampire was, and he never asked about his reaper. We simply told our stories, each asking questions whenever they popped into our heads, and laughing at the changes we had each experienced through the decades.

The time went by too fast, and at one point Edward had been forced to hide in my closet when Charlie and Mike came upstairs to check on me. Somehow dawn came, a stream of light flooded my bedroom, and I was able to see a sight that left me breathless. My fingers danced over the crystal-like skin as a sound that reminded me of a cat purring filled my room.

It was the alarm beside my bed that alerted us to the fact that the outside world was waiting, in our bubble we were just two teenagers experiencing the beginning of a romance. Outside of it, though, I was a reaper, and he was a vampire. Despite our attempts at pretending otherwise, we each were very aware of the fact that announcing our new friendship...relationship...whatever it was, to either of our families, would open a can of worms that neither of us was prepared for.

_**Edward Cullen**_

Part of me felt bad as I slipped out of Bella's window, she still needed sleep and she was beyond getting any today. But sitting next to her on her bed and talking through the night had been intoxicating, and I couldn't bring myself to leave any sooner. Even as I ran home to change for school, I could still smell her scent around me. I was wistful for a mere hour earlier.

My family's minds were buzzing with idle thoughts as I came in. I had expected some questions but they seemed to neither notice or care about my absence. I took the small blessing and made my way up to my room, shedding yesterday's clothes and replacing them with fresh garments.

It only went to show me just how off my guard Bella made me when the small blessing came into my room. Alice was quiet as she stared at me, but her eyebrow raised and her mind flooded with images of Bella and I talking the previous night, or rather images of me sitting on a purple comforter talking to myself. She had diverted the family off the trail but she was clearly expecting answers from me.

Knowing that there was no way for us to have a conversation in the house without everyone overhearing, her mind simply spoke the word, _later, _and a smile crept over her mouth. She turned to leave but her mind kept speaking to me.

_And Edward, I know something you don't know._

She blocked her thoughts quickly as she glided down the stairs. With not much time to spare, I shrugged it off for the time being and gathered my things, heading for the car.

Emmett's jeep was already in the parking lot by the time I got to school. As I shut the door, I heard the morning bell ring. I was about to be the first Cullen ever to get a tardy, but it was worth it. I wouldn't have given up a single second I had spent with Bella the previous night.

Having infinite time had always made me patient. But waiting to see Bella again, it felt much longer than any decade I had lived. A classmate would have a passing thought about her and I found myself listening that much more intently to catch a glimpse of her morning.

I was seeing Bella in a new light. She was no longer a fragile human who needed to be protected from our kind. Now she was a capable woman, an immortal in her own right, and while she was still fragile, a slip wouldn't rob her from me forever. I had no intention to purposefully drain her, she had explained to me just how painful it was, but having the knowledge that it wouldn't kill her soul made it easier for me somehow. I wasn't afraid to try, to be her friend and possibly someday more.

It was strange for me to entertain thoughts of romance. It wasn't something I had ever done, and now I couldn't stop. My thoughts moved as to how I could woo her. I couldn't tell if she would be old fashioned like me or a more modern woman. The more I thought of it, the more excited I was to find out.

Had it just been over a day earlier that I believed her lost forever? I felt as if I had a second chance, and I was nearly giddy with it. It wasn't until almost lunch time that I realized why my fellow students had been staring at me funny all morning. I was smiling. And apparently that was disturbing to them. Even without fangs, my teeth had the power to chill.

I waited outside the cafeteria door for Bella to arrive, but before she turned up, my family appeared.

"What'cha doing?" Emmett said, slapping my back.

"Leave him alone, and get in there before you ruin everything!" Alice chastised, giving Emmett a shove through the door.

"I'm going, I'm going," Emmett huffed, with Rosalie right behind him. Jasper gave me a knowing look before he took Alice's hand and led her off.

I wondered what the 'everything' Emmett was about to ruin, but as Bella's sweet scent drifted over, I forgot about my family and turned to focus on her.

I had always noticed her wise eyes, but now that I knew she carried as much, if not more, experience in them, I found myself unable to look away. I had asked her a thousand questions the night before but I had a million more. There wasn't anything I didn't want to know about her.

With each step closer to me her smile grew. By the time she stopped in front of me, we were both grinning like fools.

"Hi," she said sweetly.

"Hi," I replied. "Care to join me for lunch?"

She nodded and went to step into the cafeteria, but I took her arm to stop her. A curiosity spread over her face as I lead her down the hall and toward the entrance of the school.

"Where are we going?" she asked as I held the door of the Volvo open for her.

"Lunch," I answered simply as I slid into the driver's seat.

Bella kicked off her shoes and raised her legs, resting her feet on the dash. She tapped her foot along with the beat of the tune on the radio. Her scent filled my car and I found myself relaxing to it instead of it gearing me up for a hunt. Having almost lost her had made her much too important to think of as food.

Her head fell back against the headrest as she yawned, and for the first time all day I regretted keeping her up all night. She closed her eyes and I drove in silence, feeling content to have her in my propinquity.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked by the door. "Bella?" I spoke softly. A quiet breath answered me, she was sound asleep.

I left her in the car and made my way into the sub shop and up to the counter to place an order. We had discussed many things the night before and Bella's love for a Subway's pizza sub was just one of the many things I had committed to my perfect memory.

The girl handed me the bag, giving me a double take as she did. I thanked her and made my way back to the car, stashing the bag in the back seat, not wanting to make it cold by placing it on my lap. Bella murmured softly in her sleep as I drove back to the school. I parked back in my spot and glanced at the clock, we still had a half hour before the bell would ring. I opted to let her sleep for fifteen more minutes.

Bella was just as intriguing asleep as she was awake. Her eyelids flickered as she dreamed, causing her eyelashes to brush against the skin right under her eye. The sound they made was like a soft flutter of butterfly wings. Her perfect plump lips parted as she breathed and mumbled, causing me to wonder what they would feel like against mine. The ninety degree angle of her legs up on the dash made a perfect L.

The chance to study her face when she was not aware was priceless to me. Without her shyness at my perusal, I was able to see her just as she was, and it was stunning. She had captured my interest early and without notice, and now she was doing the same exact thing with my heart. In my peripheral I saw my face in the rear view mirror. The look on my face was almost human, and I wondered if this was what Alice had seen in her vision. It would certainly explain her smugness over it.

With a deep intake of breath her eyes shot open. She looked wide-eyed at me and then back toward the school before a pink flush covered her cheeks.

"Sorry I fell asleep," she apologized but I waved it off, reaching back and grabbing her lunch.

Bella opened the bag and reached in, pulling out the wrapped sandwich. "Is this?" I nodded and it earned me a smile.

"Thanks." Her tone was nonchalant, but the way she bit into the sandwich with a small moan made me feel as if I'd delivered her Excalibur. It was such a tiny thing but to have her approval on anything made me feel like a king.

The clock worked against me, and before I was ready, lunch was over. I got out of the car and made my way around to open Bella's door. She stepped out and we headed back toward the school. As we arrived at the top of the stairs, I reached my hand over and took her tiny warm one in mine. Neither of us looked at each other as we made our way back to class.

With the ability to hear others thoughts around me, I could never pretend like I went unnoticed. I knew who had crushes on me and my siblings and how much we were talked about even though we were rarely talked to, and normally it didn't bother me. But nothing was normal now that Bella was holding my hand as we walked through the halls.

I had known that teenage girls could be brutal, and frankly it never really affected me so I shrugged it off, but now that those mean, vicious thoughts were directed at Bella, I had a hard time keeping my beast restrained.

"What is it?" Bella asked, noticing the way I tensed as we walked down the hall.

I shook my head, trying to ignore the thoughts of the jealous girls surrounding us, but it was a lot to handle. Most of them thought Bella had been here but a day, and to attract my attention they were hurling some very unflattering accusations her way.

"Hey," she said, pulling on my hand and stopping. I stopped, and faced her. "It's a bit late for secrets now." A smirk played across her face and it coaxed a chuckle out of me.

"Our _peers_ are wondering how you attracted my attention so quick."

"So you are saying to tuck my ponytail into my shirt so I don't get it hacked off by a jealous harpy?"

I shook my head and laughed again. "You never say just what I expect."

"But I'm right. They are jealous?" I nodded. "Damn right they are, you're a catch."

She winked at me and turned, leaving me speechless again and heading into the classroom. I stood stunned until I felt a small clap on my back.

"Nicely done, man. That new girl is choice," one of my classmates said, shaking his hand after connecting with my hard back. "Crap, you should try out for the football team, you are a lot more solid that you look."

He walked past me and I followed on the sound of the bell. The day was getting stranger and stranger. If I could sleep, I would have wondered if it were a dream.

Bella had her books already out by the time I sat down. I took my space next to her and heard her tap the end of her pen on her book. I looked over and scrawled on her notebook was a message.

**What's your favorite color?**

I smiled at her and then took my pen, opening to a blank page in my own book and scrawled down my answer as the teacher began to speak.

**Brown**

Bella made a face and scribbled down her reply.

**No one likes brown. Who likes the color brown?**

**I do.**

She looked up at me and I found myself staring into her eyes. The living chocolate pools of her eyes was exactly why brown was my favorite color, and I knew she clued in when her face tinged pink.

Bella went from bold to shy quicker than I could drain a deer. It was endearing and I knew that if I didn't look away soon that we were going to be caught. I looked back down at my page and Bella followed suit, no one wiser to our shared moment.

We jotted down a few more questions as the class went on. I learned some of the more basic things about Bella. Her favorite movie, Gone with the Wind; her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice; and her favorite time of the year, Summer. By the time the bell rang, I had learned more than I had in a classroom in years.

Bella and I walked down the hall, and the moment she turned down a hallway to head away from me to her next class, Alice was in front of me.

"Okay, spill," she said sounding not too patient.

Not even my precocious little 'sister' could dampen my spirit. I smirked like a man who held a thousand secrets and wasn't giving up one.

"What? Are you upset that I know something you don't know?" My voice singsonged the saying as hers had done earlier. She pursed her lips at me and frowned. "Bell's going to ring."

"All the more reason to talk fast," she replied quietly and at vampire speed. "Why can't I see Bella in my visions? And why are you all of a sudden just as cosy with her as you were with Marie? What is going on?"

"Must be something about her family. They are very intriguing," I answered, not willing to give up Bella's secrets when I knew just how important they were to her.

Alice's tiny finger packed a wallop when she jabbed it into my chest. "I will find out, Edward. And you are going to be in so much trouble if this is endangering our family." She turned to leave but I reached out to grab her arm.

"Alice, we're safe," I said softly. "It's not my secret to tell."

She narrowed her eyes at me and then they opened wide and excitedly. "So I get to coax it out of the human?" She squealed. "This is going to be fun."

She spun on her heel and I let her go this time, just as the bell rang.

~~DLY~~

I waited outside of Bella's classroom at the end of the day. When she saw me, she smiled and walked up to me.

"Look!" she said, "Ponytail still intact, guess you aren't as hot a commodity as you think."

I smiled at her and she blushed, betraying the boldness of her statement. I didn't care if any of the other girls in the school wanted me, as long as the one I desired had eyes for me, and I told her as much.

We walked out to the parking lot, her hand clasped in mine. When we reached her truck I leaned against the hood. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and as she did the breeze from it blew a little yellow note out off my binder. Bella's eyes widened and she scrambled down to grab it. I watched her with curiosity as she snatched the note and shoved it in her bag.

"Can I have my note back?" I asked with amusement.

She looked at me and then pulled her hand out of her bag, looking down at the post it. Her face turned red as she handed me the note with Alice's scrawling on it.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "It's just, I told you about the post-its, but no one is really supposed to see them. I thought..."

"It's okay, Bella."

She fidgeted a bit. "What are you doing tonight?" she asked meekly. "I mean, would you like to come over for a bit?"

"I'd love to," I answered and reached over, pulling the door open for her. She hopped into the truck and rolled down her window.

"Seven?" she inquired.

I nodded with a smile as she pulled out.

Wanting to avoid the third degree from my family, instead of going home, I went and parked off the highway near the woods. Hunting often was something that was essential to keeping Bella safe. I didn't want to cause her any harm, no matter how many times she could come back.

I made a quick meal out of a large deer that crossed my path. I drank it dry but even the thrill of the hunt and the relief of eating was nothing compared to what spending time with Bella felt like. There had been nothing in my life up until now that held a candle to what I was experiencing with Bella.

When I thought she was human, being with her was an impossibility, but now that I knew she was around forever, and she still had a soul, it was more than perfect. I had always considered my kind deliverers of death, but now that I'd seen a real one, I knew that instead the world had angels ready to usher the departed on.

I ran with no purpose other than to run, jumping and dodging over trees and stumps. My legs didn't burn and my muscles never tired but it gave me something to focus on while I waited for the time to come that I could go to Bella.

Soon it was time and I found myself outside her home. I had no idea if she wanted the rest of her family to know I was outside or not, so I scurried up the tree to her room and knocked on her window.

Bella opened her window and smiled at me. "Well if it isn't my very own Romeo."

I winked at her and came through the window. She backed up to let me in and then went to sit on her bed. Needing to be closer to her, I made my way to her and sat next to her.

She reached out and took my hand. I took a few deep breaths, getting used to being surrounded by her essence.

"We talked about a lot of things last night, but there was one thing I didn't ask. I think I understand how it works, the reaping, but I guess what I want to know is, who's reaper are you?"

She looked at little surprised at my question but she answered simply, "Jasper."

I don't know who I expected her to say. I guess I should have done the math when she told me when she had been killed but she had thrown me for a loop yet again and I found myself scrambling to piece together something that made sense.. I wouldn't have been surprised if she said Alice, Rosalie or even Carlisle. But Jasper? He had killed the most. The things that Bella must have been witness to. I had seen a few of Jasper's memories of the war but to know that Bella was there, it left me unguarded.

She had talked about being drained, but to know she had been through the worst time in vampire history, it must have happened frequently.

"You must have seen a lot of...our nature then," I said.

"Not your nature, Edward. I've seen so many of your kind, and you are unlike any of them."

"I've killed people," I replied solemnly.

"I know," she replied with a smile. Her tone was so nonchalant about the lives I'd taken that it silenced me for a moment. Then she continued, "You wouldn't have a reaper if you didn't."

"Who is my reaper?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. She looked uncomfortable, and I knew that telling me her secret was one thing but telling me someone else's was another. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

"Thank you," she said sincerely, relaxing at being let off the hook.

"I would like to try something," I said. After being bombarded by the same thought all day, I had to try. I brought my face close to hers, her scent washing over me. "Hold still..." My lips almost touching hers. "...and don't be upset if I accidentally kill you, I've never done this before."

Her lips stayed close, but they curled up. I could feel her breath warm against my mouth. "You're joking, right?" she asked, slightly dazed.

"Shhh, you're ruining the mood," I teased before I covered the distance and placed my lips on hers.

Her scent was mouth-watering, but her taste, the sweet, salty taste of her lips, was beyond anything my senses had experienced before. I leaned my body in, and with that action, Bella suddenly slipped her arms around my neck and she kissed back hard. Her lips bent for mine, so soft against my hard skin, and the rush of her scent pushed over me and then I was back against her wall, my chest rising and lowering in rapid succession.

"Too much?" she asked with a small grin but her chest was throbbing as badly as my own.

I looked at her, I knew my eyes were black with hunger and she was joking. I knew then that there would be nothing in the world that could make me stop loving this girl.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?" she responded.

"I want you to meet my family."


	13. Chapter 12- The Story of our Families

**A/N- Happy Canada Day! I know most of you aren't from Canada, but you can help me celebrate with this bonus chapter! Thanks again to Acrosstheskyinstars for the beta help. **

**Happy reading**

**Chapter 12-  
**_**The Story of Our Families**_

Isabella Swan

"Your family?" I didn't mean to laugh or sound quite as hysterical as the words came out, but it was all just so much. One moment we were kissing, and then he was asking me to come meet his parents. We were becoming more like teenagers with every moment we spent together.

My brain screamed, 'No, this is a very bad idea.' Unfortunately my brain wasn't in charge. My mind that had seen and done a lot over the past decades knew we were playing with fire, but my heart was beating to its own rhythm, and Edward was the conductor. It was hard to not let him be, when he had been so accepting of it all.

I was just about ready to jump off the bed and declare we could go, right then when an image of Jasper's face popped into my head. Reality was like a bucket of ice cold water being poured over my head.

"That might be a bit harder than it sounds."

His bright, boyish smile was gone before I could memorize it the way I wanted to. In it's place was a puzzled expression, "We don't have to tell them your secret, I just want them to meet you."

"I appreciate that, and I'm not saying no, I'm simply saying we might have an issue. Last night, before we talked, I assumed you had already figured out Jasper was my vampire." His eyes narrowed at the word 'my' and for a moment I wondered if it was possible for Edward to be jealous of his own brother. "Well, when he met Alice he stopped killing humans."

"He's tried hard to stop, yes," Edward said, making me feel a bit guilty. He had explained last night why each of his family members hunted animals instead, and how whenever a family member would 'slip up', they would be forced to move and redouble their efforts to preserve human life. Before that conversation, I had never taken into account how Jasper might feel about my attempts to bring him out of what the Cullen's called their 'vegetarian lifestyle'.

"No, he has." By now Edward had rejoined me by taking a seat next to me on my bed, so I was able to place a finger over his lips to keep him from interrupting me, "Technically, it's not killing a human when the only person he's drained since meeting Alice is me."

Edward's eyes widened in realization, and I felt a metaphoric punch in the gut when I saw the pain in his eyes. Did he see me for the vile creature I truly was? Did he finally understand how selfish my afterlife has been? I hated that look. Words began to fall out of my mouth as I attempted to explain myself.

"I didn't know why he'd stopped killing, we don't get a handbook when they give us this job. I didn't realize how important it was to you, to your family, not to kill people. I just wanted to be able to move on, and since animals have child reapers, those kills didn't help me."

My babbling would have continued if I had not been silenced by Edward. His lips on mine was suddenly all that mattered in the world.

My arms wrapped around his neck, and as soon as they did, an alarm sounded in my mind; I quickly moved to pull them back down, so that he wouldn't break our kiss, but instead of pulling away, he pulled me closer. His lips left mine and made their way across my cheek before he was simply holding me in an intimate hug.

"Bella," he whispered my name with his lips close to my ear in a way that made it sound like a prayer, "breathe."

I inhaled fast and hard, nearly choking on the air. When had I stopped breathing? My mind worked furiously, but all I could think about was how it felt to have his lips on mine, and then I was wondering why he was being so cruel as to take them away from me. I pouted for what I was sure was the first time in either of my lives. His reaction wasn't like the ones I had seen in the movies, he wasn't quick to soothe whatever was bothering me. Instead, once he had pulled back enough to see my protruding bottom lip, he chuckled, causing me to join him.

"You know I'll protect you, right? Even if it's from my own family. You don't have to be scared to meet them." His words caused a moment of confusion, before I recalled what we had been discussing before.

His family.

Meeting his family.

The whole family.

Including...

"Jasper can't kill me, well...not permanently, but you already knew that. There's a complication, though."

Edward nodded his head, prompting me to continue. Would he leave and never come back when he realized how devious I had been in the past?

"All those times that he drained me...well, all the times since he met Alice, I caused them." From the look on his face, I could tell he didn't believe me. With a sigh, I continued, "I would purposely cut myself or go out into the woods close to where I knew he was staying. Once I even followed a hunter out and hoped maybe I could use my blood to lure Jasper closer to him. I lost the man quickly though, and Jasper found me before I even made it out of the woods again. I don't even have to cut myself now. He's drained me so many times, I've wondered if he's become sort of, tuned into my blood. I was actually surprised he didn't try anything when he found the two of us together in the woods."

Edward looked lost in thought before he mumbled something that sounded like, "No brunette's left." His eyes refocused on me, and I could tell he was worried. Worried about what, though? How I would react when he told me that he couldn't be with me?

"Why would you do that? Why did you want him to kill again?"

"Like any other job, reapers are given a goal. Only when I reach that goal will I be able to leave this world, and go on to whatever is on the other side. I don't know how many, but my goal is to collect a certain number of souls. Souls of Jasper's victims, but I stopped worrying about moving on months ago, it's why I moved to Phoenix with Renee and Phil."

"Who are Renee and Phil?" he was genuinely curious, and it was at that point I realized I had never mentioned them the night before. He already knew about Nessie and Mike, and I was sure he had his suspicions about Charlie, but I had not mentioned them. With so many years to go through, and so few hours in the night, we had only just started to talk about our lives.

"Reapers," I said quickly. It was getting easier and easier to tell him whatever he wanted to know.

"You know, every time you answer one of my questions twenty more come to mind." His statement was light, but I knew what he was saying.

_'Whose reapers?'_

'Why would you just up and go to Phoenix?'

'Will you be leaving again?'

'Did I want to?'

__

"The only answer that really matters is I don't have any desire to move on anymore," and with that stated, I leaned forward to capture his lips again. I must have completed my mission of clearing his mind, because the next thing I knew my bedroom door had burst open, and in walked the one person I had been avoiding all day.

"Whoa!" Mike's mouth hung open so widely it would have been comical if he had not just found me in my bed, with the man who had killed Charlie.

"Seriously?" Mike shook his head as if the question and motion would suddenly change what he was seeing. I could not have cared less about what he was doing, though. With Edward's eyes narrowing beside me, I was starting to wonder what he was thinking. I attempted to get up to chase Mike out of my room, but a possessive arm was wrapped around my waist, like a steel bar.

"Mike." I waited for only a moment before calling his name again so that I could gain his attention. "Mike, I've got a guest over, could you please?!" The sorta question came out between clenched teeth as I motioned with my head for him to get lost. His shoulders fell in a deflated way as he turned down the hall and headed back downstairs, leaving my bedroom door wide open.

Edward's tension left the farther away Mike got, but from the way his eyes began to darken, I couldn't relax. Edward took my hand as I stood up. "It looks like I'm going to have to meet your family first, Bella."

"Why?"

"Because Mike is downstairs telling Charlie about us right now. Apparently he's going to take the rest of the day off to come deal with this new issue."

Hysterical laughter was just waiting to burst forth from my lips. Things like this could only happen to me.

After fixing my hair that had somehow become a bit tasseled and taking enough deep breaths to calm down my racing heart, Edward and I managed to settle ourselves at the kitchen table downstairs with Mike glaring at our joined hands. It probably would have made Mike act like less of a jerk if we had told him that Edward already knew about reapers, about us, but I didn't want to have to explain myself twice.

"So, Edward, play any sports? You know the football team has tryouts coming up."

"No, I've never had much of an interest in sports. I prefer hiking." The smug look on Mike's face deflated quickly when Edward wouldn't squirm.

"Oh yeah...hiking." The way Mike widened his eyes as he looked at me made me realize how lucky he was that he had never had to pop a soul. He was horrible at being secretive. Fortunately for all of us, Charlie walked in after the third wide-eyed attempt and a none too subtle nod towards me. If it wasn't for all the time I had spent with Mike in the previous years, I might have thought he was having a seizure.

"Huhumm," the Charlie grunt of disapproval and confirmation gave no indication as to what he was thinking, at least not for me. How badly I would have loved to have Edward's gift for that moment alone. I glanced at Edward as Charlie took off his jacket and hung it by the front door; the look in his eyes showed the confusion I felt. Was Edward wrong? Were there two people he couldn't hear the thoughts of? Or were Charlie's thoughts just as vague as how he spoke?

The scraping of a chair against the tile brought my attention solely to Charlie again; he was still wearing his gun holster. It would have been an effective scare tactic for a real teenage boy, but considering that we all knew Edward was nothing of the kind, it was absolutely pointless.

"Well now, I have to say, that I don't allow b-humumm-boys in Bella's room."

Ah, the worried father route, so that's how he wanted to handle this? At least he could keep a straight face, and not give in under pressure.

"Not that it matters, anyway, I've been transferred. We're moving tonight." Tonight was stressed with a dark look aimed directly into my eyes. It was almost comical. How would he explain our sudden need to move? And Charlie never lived too far from the Cullens.

For a moment, I almost felt like a child being scolded by her father, and the threat weighed on my mind. Then the cool hand cradling my own reminded me that I wasn't a teenager, and Edward wasn't some misbehaving boy that I had snuck into my room. We had each had more than our fair share of decades alone, and there was nothing that was going to force me to give him up now.

"Sir, there was no sneaking-"

"He knows we're reapers." Perhaps it was rude to cut Edward off, but this was my family...sorta, and if anyone was going to have to deal with them, it should have been me."And I'm not going anywhere." The crashing sound to the right of me indicated that Mike had fallen off his chair, but my focus was on Charlie.

"He knows?"

"Yes."

"How much does he know, _Isabella_?" The stained use of my first name, my given name, said so much more than any look could. Charlie wanted to know if he knew about my past, his past, our pasts. Suddenly all the fight left me. As hard as it was for me to share my own past with Edward, I knew the idea of him, of a vampire knowing each of theirs, was scary for Charlie.

"I told him everything about myself."

"Even...?" The one word held more than any long winded question could ask.

"Yes, Charlie, even Jasper."

"Do the rest of the..."

Vampires, that had to be what he was going to ask, but was just too polite or too used to hiding what we knew to finish the question.

"Blood sucking vamps? Do they know who we are? Does Alice? Is she gonna run off on another trip to Paris now that they know? You know how much I hate Paris, Bella! Though I guess some good can come from it. The last time they went, it meant me and you got to spend some alone time together." Mike, on the other hand, had no such qualms about saying whatever came to his mind. Though the way Edward's hand tightened, perhaps he wasn't voicing _all_ he was thinking.

"You had no right to spy on her like that!" The growl that ripped through Edward's chest was more animal than anything else.

"There was only one hotel room. What was I supposed to do, pluck out my eyes? And how did you know what I was thinking about?"

"The same way you can come back to life if I kill you right now, it's a gift."

"Edward, calm down." I took a deep breath as I chastised the man beside me and realized that the statement was as much for myself as it was for him. With a deep breath, I turned to address this newest bit of information, "Michael, you had no right!"

"Well you had no right to go and tell that coven of vampires about us."

"ENOUGH!" Charlie's voice cut through the kitchen like an ax through butter.

"Mike, we'll speak about your Paris trip later." The words held so much more than a dismissal of the subject. I was almost positive that Mike would wish Charlie had hung up the gun later. Death for us might not be possible, but each attempt certainly hurt. "Bella, do you know what you are getting into?"

How do you say you have absolutely no idea what you are doing, but that your heart is leading the way? "Charlie, if a post it showed up tomorrow, who would you think it's for?"

His eyes boring into mine said it all: Jasper. Despite the fact that Charlie stayed close to Edward, ready to work if he was needed, he knew as well as the rest of us that Edward wasn't a normal vampire, he knew he trusted Edward not to go and kill more people. It was why he had risked his heart with Renee well before we had met.

"I trust him. I know he won't do anything to hurt me." The rest of our short-lived conversation involved meaningless threats that a father would give a potential boyfriend. Mike sat sulking in his chair as Charlie accepted that I had made my choice and there was nothing either of them could do about it. At one point Edward looked at me and then around the room before chuckling. Charlie had Mike order pizza while we explained how it was that Edward discovered our secret.

"Nessie, I should have figured. That kid has always been a little busybody." I wondered what he meant by that but then figured it wasn't my place to ask. When the pizza arrived, no one offered any to Edward, all pretenses were gone by now. He did, however, ask how we could eat such foul smelling stuff, which led to a conversation about what blood tasted like and a complete and total loss of my appetite.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I won't talk about it again, go ahead and eat." I shoved the offending plate away before shaking my head and attempting to keep from vomiting.

"You need to eat," Edward insisted.

"No, I don't." I wanted to explain, but each time I opened my mouth I imagined hot liquid pouring down my throat. At least becoming a vampire wasn't something I would ever have to worry about. Who in their right mind would ever want to taste blood?

"What she means is we get hungry, but unlike humans, not eating doesn't hurt us. It's just uncomfortable." I was grateful Charlie answered for me, cause I knew Mike wouldn't.

Eventually, the room grew quiet and everything was out in the open, well almost everything. Despite Mike's slip up about Alice, Charlie managed to keep whose reaper he was out of the conversation. Edward had also been a bit tight-lipped about the rest of his family, saying that if they chose to share with us later, that would be choices each of them would have to make on their own.

"I still want you to meet them."

My nerves were frayed, my exhaustion level was beyond anything I had felt in decades, and yet with Edward there looking at me, all I could do was nod. Charlie walked us to the door. Mike stormed to his room, declaring that he would be here to comfort me when Jasper forced me into my next body. Edward's responding growl sent a tingle down my spine. Just before he closed the front door, Charlie let out a sigh and said the one thing I wasn't ready to deal with.

"Bella, you can tell him about his reaper."

Edward Cullen

I was unsure of what I expected from Bella's family. They weren't conventional, but neither was mine. We had both forged families out of those around us with like minds and similar goals. Those things eventually turned into affection, and then into a familial love. They were still working out their kinks, they had not been bound as long as my family and I had been, but after meeting Charlie, I knew that they were solid.

Mike, however, could be replaced, but I sometimes felt the same about Rosalie. Rosalie had, however, never spied on me in my underwear, the same couldn't be said about Mike and Bella. I wasn't thrilled that my first glimpse of Bella undressed had been through another man's eyes, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I did, however, wonder if I could get away with killing him, just once. To protect her honor, of course. The tiny smile crept up over my lips.

"What are you so happy about?" Bella asked as we drove toward my home.

"Just excited for you to meet my family." I didn't consider it a lie, I was excited about her meeting my family. I just didn't want her in on my homicidal thoughts just yet.

I couldn't help but notice that even though Bella was sitting in a relaxed position, one leg tucked underneath her and the other propped up on the dash of my car, the way that she wrung her hands clearly displayed her nerves.

"They'll love you," I assured her but it was obvious she didn't believe me. "Even Jasper. In fact he will be thrilled to know his control is much better than he thought."

"It's not Jasper I'm worried about," she mumbled under her breath.

"Then who?" I asked, but then the answer hit me, and her voice joined mine as I said, "Alice."

"I won't let her hurt you," I said honestly.

"Well there is one good thing," Bella said with a wry smile.

"What is that?"

"She won't see it coming."

~~DLY~~

The house was quiet as we pulled up to it. Too quiet. Alice must have seen us coming. I shut off the engine and was holding Bella's door open by the time she had her seatbelt undone.

"Look at that, chivalry is dead," she said, chuckling a little too insistently at her own joke..

"I won't let anything happen to you," I promised again. "We don't have to tell them anything that you don't want to."

She surprised me again by taking my hands and stopping me. "You've been more than open with me. This goes against all the rules but this is a unique situation. Just let me start slow."

"Okay," I said, leaning down and touching my lips to hers. Her scent washed over me, creating a blanket of desire and love.

"One more thing before we go in there." I looked at her and waited. "Charlie."

"Charlie?"

"He's your reaper," she whispered.

I could hear the thoughts of my family inside, wondering why we were still outside. Their self imposed quiet had been broken when Bella and I kissed.

"My family can wait," I said, taking her hand and sliding it over my shoulder. With a quick movement, I slung her onto my back and we were running deep into the forest as she screamed.

"This is insane," she called out, and she began to laugh as I dodged trees.

When I came to the clearing, I placed her down, turning and keeping her pressed against me until she regained her balance. It was an unusual speed for someone not used to it, and I knew her equilibrium would be off for a while.

She pushed off me and tried to regain her footing but she stumbled and then turned and sat rather abruptly on the ground. Her face was paler than when we had left the truck and I thought I might had overdone it.

"Don't do that again," she said, deciding she didn't like the method of transport after all.

"Sorry," I replied and took a seat next to her.

"Charlie?" I asked after a few moments of silence. "I killed your dad?"

She laughed and I frowned at her. "He's not my real dad. Well, no more than Dr. Cullen is yours. But we are like a family. I do love him."

Charlie Swan's face was familiar to me when I saw him, but I hadn't connected his face to the memory. My mind not fathoming him being the same man I killed when I first left Carlisle. I had been upset with Carlisle shackling me to a life I didn't think was natural. Saddled with a conscience that I blamed my maker for, I decided to kill only those that would be burden to society. The ones that killed, raped, and tortured their fellow men. I remembered the moment perfectly.+-

_I had arrived to the town several hours before. I had been traveling for two weeks and I was beginning to become intensely hungry. The last thing I had eaten was deer and I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into something more palatable. I'd believed myself superior, my gift giving me the ability to choose the right victims. To provide a service while enjoying the sustenance I was meant to have._

_The heels of my shoes crunched against the gravel of the road. I was still quiet but not to my own ears. I could hear every sound from the crickets in the nearby trees to the noisy chatter of the pub down the street. I began to worry that I'd waited too long. The scents in the air filled my mouth with venom and there hadn't been a person in the street with me, merely the essence of them left behind._

_I heard them before I saw them round the corner. There were a group of them, six in total. I followed them and I could hear the vile thoughts bouncing back and forth in their heads. Two of them had visions of what they had done to a girl the previous night. In a dark alley she lost her innocence and her life. Surely any man associating with these two would be equally to blame._

_I followed them, waiting for one to break off from the group. I hoped for one of the two who had the clear thoughts of malice, but luck was not on my side, and the dark haired man with the mustache broke off first. When he steered down the long street, I followed. His mind was foggy, and I attributed it to him drinking. I convinced myself that he had helped the other two men and I cornered him quickly._

_When I sunk my teeth into his neck, his mind cleared. Like a curtain raising, his thoughts came more clearly and I could see a wife and daughter at home. People he had loved. But maybe even worse than that, I saw his badge. He was investigating the men, not with them. Not wanting to admit I'd made a mistake, I disposed of the body after I had drained him. I knew I'd never be so careless again. I would know that they were evil. The evil ones would not make me feel like this._

_The remembrance of my first kill stayed with me, and although I had been far more careful in the future, it was the memory of him, of Charlie, that had lead to my return to Carlisle. I was not God and my faulty choices had proved that._

"Edward don't look so serious. I don't blame you for killing him. In fact, if you hadn't killed him, I'd never have gotten a chance to know him."

I looked at Bella, my brows furrowed as I tried to understand how she could be so cavalier about my killing.

"I used to take more souls in a week than you've killed in your life, Edward. I have a realistic view of death. It happens, and it can suck, but I'm still here and so are most of the people I care about, so I think I'm doing pretty good."

"You said you took vampire's souls," I said, wondering if Bella really did have the answers both Carlisle and I had longed for.

"I have. And most of them do get pulled away by the shadows. But not all. I've seen many get the lights."

"Heaven?" I asked, almost in disbelief.

Bella shrugged as she placed her hands behind her on the ground. "I don't know. All I know is the lights look like a good place to go and when the shadows come, the dead leave screaming."

I could see those affected her. Bella, as strong as she appeared to be, was still ruffled by the things she had to do. She looked at me, and for a moment I thought she looked just her seventeen years, sweet and unsure. Perhaps it was the predator in me that wanted her or maybe it was the man that needed to console her, either way I couldn't help myself and I leaned in and our lips touched.

Again, with our kisses, a spark ignited between us and Bella seemed to get over her melancholy quickly. She crawled over my lap and straddled me as her hands found purchase in my hair. I was accosted by her scent but it was her desire that had my attention. My hands rested on her hips as we kissed but it was when I felt her sit her weight down on my lap that I pushed her back from me.

"What?" she asked confused.

"You tell me I have a soul and now you are trying to steal my virtue," I said, half joking, but my nervousness and confusion was what was driving me.

She cocked her head as if trying to figure me out and then moved closer again. "Edward. We aren't like other couples. I can safely say that in the history of coupling, we are the first vampire/reaper pair. There aren't any rules for us, it's not like we're just going to go and get married."

"Why not?" I asked, the question surprising even myself.

She laughed. "What do you mean, why not? You and I are as close to immortals as they come. Not that I'm scared of commitment or anything but we've not even known each other a year. Besides," she smiled shyly, "marriage really isn't necessary for us, is it?" I could see her hide her nervousness in her next action, her kiss coming swift and I was lost in the feel of her warm lips and her unique scent.

When she pulled back, I smiled. "You are going to be the death of me, Bella Swan."

She just laughed heartily at the comment, then sobered as she looked at me, biting her bottom lip.

"Edward, you don't really want to marry me, do you?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," I admitted.

"There is no hurry. I have time and you have time. I want you in my life but I grew up in a time not different from yours. I've seen a lot progress in relationships over time, but watching isn't living. I still know what I was taught and even though I want to experience everything with you, I don't want to miss it by rushing through the steps." She trailed off, her cheeks blushing.

I cupped her face with my hand. "You'll let me court you?" I said, my face unable to hide the thrill of the idea.

Bella nodded with a shy smile. "But Edward, no chaperon," she teased. "I'd like the option of becoming a modern girl at my own discretion."

~~DLY~~

The walk back to the house, which I took much slower for the sake of my passenger, was filled with comfortable silence. I was lost in my thoughts. Bella had given me a gift and not even realized it. To find someone that I wished to be with, and then to find out she had similar ideas about relationships, made me elated.

The house was still quiet as we approached it again. The minds of my family were revealing themselves to be both curious and nervous over meeting Bella. Bella took a deep breath as we entered into my home and I gave her hand a small squeeze to let her know that I was there for her.

I had expected many things when introducing Bella to my family, I expected Carlisle to be courteous and Esme to be welcoming. Rosalie was sure to be distant and cool, and Emmett boisterous and inquisitive. Alice was sure to be her bouncy friendly self and Jasper aloof as he read the climate, studying Bella until he was sure of her. However, when we walked into the living room, Alice and Jasper were front and center with matching determined scowls.

"Edward, can I talk to you? Alone," she stated with a look.

"Alice, there isn't anything Bella doesn't know about us," I said carefully.

Alice opened her mind to me and showed me the vision she'd had recently. Jasper was looking up at nothing from the chair but his eyebrows were pushed together as if he were listening to something, and it wasn't good. Then Alice appeared in the vision and she was upset, yelling at the empty space, "How could you do that to him?" over and over again.

"I see," I said, thinking that perhaps a cooler place to discuss would be better.

"I don't," said Bella. "Does this annoy the rest of you as much as it does me?"

Emmett barked out a laugh. "I like her!"

"I'm very likable," Bella said, extending a hand to him, the lone friendly face for the time being.

Emmett collected her proffered hand as I escorted Alice from the room.

"What is going on, Edward?" she asked once we were in the seclusion on the kitchen. My whole family were introducing themselves to Bella in the other room but keeping an ear on Alice and my conversation. Their looks when we came in told me that Alice had filled them in on her vision. So the only one left out of the loop was Bella. "Do you know why I'm going to kill your new girlfriend?"

With her question she unleashed the rest of her vision on me.

"_You can't play with people's lives like that!" she yelled as Jasper stood up._

"_It's okay, Alice. Calm down," Jasper said, going to grab her hand, and then she pulled it back with such force that it flew into the empty space. Alice's face changed, knowing she had hit something, and then suddenly, Bella's body, the one everyone else could see, was laying on the floor._

A grumble rose in my chest. Even if I knew that Bella couldn't be killed, watching it happen still brought out my inner protector.

"You all are listening to what they are saying, aren't you?" I heard Bella ask from the other room.

"Why would you say that?" Esme asked kindly.

"Because even though you are talking to me, you all keep staring at that wall."

I tuned them out again as I focused back to Alice. Hearing Bella's voice brought calm and sensibility back to me.

"Alice, Bella has a secret. It's not mine to share but since it looks as though she will be telling you anyway, perhaps I should break it here."

Alice looked at me for a moment. "Why aren't you more upset at me killing..."

Alice's eyes changed as they always did when she had a vision. Most people wouldn't notice, but with my vampire vision, I could see her pupils dilate and the color darken minutely.

The vision was similar to the previous one; _Alice screamed at Bella, although it appeared to be thin air. Jasper stepped in and, _whack_, Bella's body went down and the fact I could see it told me that she had been parted from it. But then it changed to me and Alice standing just where we were talking._

"_Don't worry, Alice. You can't kill Bella. You can kill her body, but she just gets another one."_

"Is that true?" Alice asked me. "Can I really not kill her?"

"It's painful to her if you do, but no, she can't die."

She looked up at me, her neck straining back so far to make up for our height difference, then smacked me.

"Hey!" I said, startled.

"I just spent the last two hours worried I killed your first girlfriend, Edward. Now that I know I can't, I'm pretty sure I can handle anything she tells me."

I let out a sigh and hoped that was really the case.

When we rejoined the others, Bella was sitting down chatting with Esme about cooking. Esme had expressed an interest in learning and Bella was quick to latch on to the shared interest. As soon as Bella noticed me, she ended her sentence and stood up, coming to me.

"Everything all right?" she asked, not bothering to whisper under the pretense of privacy.

"I hope so," I said honestly.

Bella took a look around at my family, who were waiting patiently to hear what she had to say. She took a deep breath and started talking, "There really is no easy way to do this." She reached and took my hand and I squeezed it gently. "It starts with a toad and a frog..."

~~DLY~~

"So you are a grim reaper?" Emmett was the first to speak after Bella had told the story of who she was. "Bad ass!"

"I don't understand. You said you reap for vampires. What are you doing here? Unless one of us is about to die?" Jasper asked.

"No, I don't just reap vampire souls." Carlisle's face brightened, and I could hear the many questions he would ask when he had the time, but right now he was giving Bella the floor to answer his families questions. "I reap for a vampire. Whoever they kill, be it human or vampire, I pop the souls and deliver them to their destination, whether that be the lights or the shadows. I don't do animals, though, that's another division."

"So if you reap for a certain vampire, do you not have to follow them around?" Jasper asked, and I saw his eyebrows knitting together like they did in the vision. I took a small step and placed myself between Jasper and Alice, and Bella.

"Yes, I've been following my vampire around for a long time," Bella replied, and I tried not to bristle at her calling him hers.

"Since there is only one member of this family that would warrant having a reaper close by at all times, I assume that you are my reaper."

Bella looked surprised that he had guessed so quickly.

"Jasper, you have not killed anyone in a long time," Alice comforted.

"Longer than you think," Bella mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Jasper inquired.

"Reapers aren't reapers forever. We have a quota to fill. It could be two it could be two thousand. Once we have reaped our unknown number, we get to move on. I followed you for decades, and you know how many souls I have delivered. Well...then you met Alice and you just stopped. I didn't think I'd ever get to move on, so I may have tempted you."

"You fed him people?" Alice asked, horrified.

"No. I tried a couple times, leading him to someone, but in the end all I fed him was..." Bella replied, "me."

"Wait," Alice said, standing up, and I pushed Bella back a little. "You're saying that the whole time Jasper has had problems with his control wasn't because his control was weaker but because you kept dangling human blood in front of him? No wonder I never saw his kills in time to save you. I can't see you!"

The room was tense as Alice's speech built. Everyone but Bella was aware of the vision Alice had had. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Emmett shifted, ready to knock Alice off course if he needed to. Jasper watched his wife warily as well but in his mind he was busy trying to decipher her mood, as if it didn't match what he thought it would be.

Alice began to laugh. A hearty belly laugh.

"Alice?" Jasper asked, questioning her sanity.

"I spent the last two hours wondering what was so bad that I screamed and killed Edward's girlfriend, and now that I know what it was, it feels rather anticlimactic. Not only can't I kill her, she'd just told me that she's been feeding herself to you for decades. You've spent years feeling guilty over probably the one guilt-free meal you could ever have."

If vampires were able to cry, Alice would be tearing up from laughing so hard.

Jasper's head snapped up. "That is why you smelt so familiar. I was beginning to think everyone tasted alike!"

"Could we stop talking about eating my girlfriend?" I asked, not liking the direction of the conversation.

"Yes, please," Bella reiterated, a bit shaky. "Before you turn me into an all you can eat buffet, I would like to tell you the rest."

Bella told them about how she changed bodies if eaten. She made sure to let them know it hurt to die, just like any human, in case they were getting any ideas. Emmett was the only one whose thoughts went there, and one look from me caused them to vanish quickly.

Well into the night, my family asked questions, and Bella answered them tirelessly until a yawn crept in and I ended the evening.

"She may be immortal but she still needs sleep," I explained as I took her hand.

"It was very nice to meet you," Carlisle said with a smile. He had been thrilled to hear that some vampires went to the lights. He felt vindicated for the way he'd lived his life.

Alice came up and wrapped her arms around Bella. Bella returned the hug awkwardly but shot me a smile.

"I'm sorry I almost killed you," Alice said and I shot her an admonished look.

"Uh, that's okay," Bella replied warily, then she addressed the rest of the family, "It was nice meeting you all."

I drove Bella home, the ride quiet as I noticed her starting to drift. When we reached her house, she was sound asleep. I picked her up and carried her in, placing her in her bed. I pulled her shoes off and dragged the blanket up her.

"Edward," she mumbled, and I look at her.

"Yes?" I asked quietly.

"I know we're taking it slow, but please stay," she answered.

She was already asleep again by the time I crawled into the bed but her body moved and melded to mine in her slumber. I pushed her hair off her shoulder and hummed lightly as she slept.

I was going to marry this girl one day.


	14. Chapter 13-Story of Margaret Saunders

**A/N-Thanks again to everyone reading, you've all given such lovely support. **

**Applause for my Beta who just finished this a few minutes ago after a broken computer and Ipad problems. **

**Chapter 13-  
**_**The Story of Margaret Saunders**_

Isabella Swan

Friday had never felt so good. This had to be the best Friday in the history of Fridays, though I was aware of the fact that Edward's presence when I woke up might have had something to do with that. Having him beside me as I ate breakfast was also very high on the plus side for this Friday. Mike seemed to have bounced back from his bad mood, and was now doing everything in his power to annoy Edward.

He went as far as to offer Edward V8 juice saying it looked like blood. Then there was our arrival at school. If it was any indication as to how the rest of eternity would be with Edward, I was ready to bolt and forget any idea about a relationship from the moment we entered the parking lot. I knew the human girls were jealous, but Rose sent me looks that could kill. I couldn't figure out what her problem was, though it wasn't a big enough issue to stop Alice from darting over a bit faster than any normal teenagers could have.

"I'm so excited! After you left yesterday I saw that we are going to be the best of friends!" She wrapped her ice cold arm through mine as we darted a bit too quickly into the school building and left me at a serious loss for words. What did she mean by she saw? And didn't she want to kill me last night?

Seeing the future? Hearing thoughts? How had we managed to keep ourselves hidden from them for all those years?

"So since you can see the future, can you tell me if Rose is going to be attempting to murder me? Cause she looked like she was thinking about it this morning."

I barely caught a glimpse of Edward's smirk before we arrived at my classroom. It was not the reaction I had expected him to have to my question."She realized you are the reason that we've had to move so often. She's divided between hating you, and asking you if Emmett's two slip ups were also his reaper tempting him." His answer caused a shiver to run down my spine as I recalled the late night visit to the graveyard where we had to dig up one of Emmett's victims in order to pop her soul.

It had been during Phil and Renee's honeymoon period, we thought they were in Cancun when they came home early and Phil admitted to needing help in order to find the three day old body. It was an experience we all had hoped to never have again. It still didn't stop Phil from moving away from Emmett though.

Guilt soon rolled in as I realized it could have easily been James' ashes waiting days for me, if Mark's post it had not arrived in Arizona. "No, you can tell Rose that Emmett's reaper has never tried to tempt him."

"Bella," Alice said to regain my attention, "the whole town knows you live with Mike and Charlie, but that's only three of you, and there are seven of us." I knew exactly where she was going; I had purposefully not told any of them about the others the night before, but just as I knew it would, the subject had come up. Yet with the real teenagers of the school coming in, it would have to wait.

"We'll discuss it later, Alice." She nodded her agreement before floating off down the hall. Edward dropped a feather-soft kiss on my hairline before disappearing as well.

My first class of the day was filled with letters being passed to me from various girls, each wanting to know what Edward Cullen was like as a boyfriend. I ignored them, opting to take several trips to the trashcan in order to clear my desk of them. My second class was no better, but my third class was by far the most interesting. Our professor assigned us to do a book report, with a partner. We were supposed to pair off then spend the class time choosing our book and dividing up the work.

I cringed when the nosey girl from my first day in this class landed her eyes on me, but her face dropped when a chair pulled up beside me. It was out of habit that when my eyes met his, I tensed in preparation of being drained. Jasper's mouth dropped, but he kept his place. Every bit the soldier I remembered he was, not going to back down just because I was a bit nervous.

"Well... this book report should be easy, we've both had plenty of time to read many books over the last century." My attempt at a joke fell flat. It was obvious Jasper had something on his mind and so I decided it was best to keep my mouth shut until he got it out.

"I'm sorry I killed you." His words floored me, they were the last thing I expected to hear from him.

"Jasper, it's my own fault. I tempted you, remember?" Perhaps only Edward had such a perfect memory of his past.

His eyes held mine in that creepy non-blinking way that, as a result, caused mine to water and blink twice as much. As if by blinking extra I could make his somehow follow the movement. His eyelids stayed still though, his mouth didn't.

"The first time. I'm sorry I killed you the first time, during the war."

Decades ago that moment had haunted my dreams. There were times when I couldn't close my eyes without picturing those blood red eyes; they weren't the ones staring at me now, though. He had been different then, we were both different. I wanted to tell him it was okay, but I wasn't looking forward to anymore awkward conversations, I just wanted to say something to show him it was all in the past. But recalling the past brought up a question I never thought I'd get the chance to ask.

"Did you know Mary Saunders, back then, before the war?" His unmoving eyes no longer seemed creepy, now they seemed to be looking at me as though I had lost my mind. "That day, when I was going to be forced into marriage, a neighbor Mary Saunders told me I was lucky to be able to wed, she said her cousin Margaret was "soiled" by some low down Jasper Whitlock. Wow, that sounds so ridiculous when you consider how much times have changed, but I remember after I first learned your name, I wondered if it was you. I mean Mary says he took off for the war, and you were in uniform when you um... when we met?"

After I finished my tirade, I felt oddly like laughing. Considering the moment before it was one emotion I wasn't feeling, I had no idea where the sudden desire came from. It must have been contagious though, because from the small lift at the corner of Jasper's mouth, I knew he felt like laughing as well.

~*~DLY~*~

By the time lunch came around, everyone in the school had heard about my new relationship status. I didn't need Alice's wave or Edward's hand guiding me to know where I was expected to sit. Surprisingly it wasn't my arrival that caused the biggest commotion. Emmett seemed to be vibrating in place as he waited for Jasper to arrive.

"Margaret Saunders? Guess Bella wasn't the only one who ran away from marriage."

My jaw dropped as I stumbled to apologize to Jasper, I hadn't told anyone else. Not even Mike knew and I had lived with him longer than anyone else in my life. Somehow Jasper must have seen the apology in my face because he addressed me before even attempting to respond to Emmett.

"His class shares a wall with ours, he heard everything. Besides," at this he turned towards Emmett, and an mischievous glint came into his eye, "Emmy's just jealous that I lost mine before he did."

"That's not fair, you were born before me, and don't call me Emmy!" Emmett's hands began to slightly push down on the table and miniscule cracks started to run down the length. It was enough to make me shiver when I thought about what he could do if he was really angry.

"That is way more information than I ever wanted to know." Mike's words broke the tension and caused all eyes to land on him.

"Go away, Mike." While the thought had been mine, it was Edward's voice that actually uttered the words aloud.

"Relax, Dracula, I'm not going to cause any issues. The thing you have to remember is me and Bells go back a long time, and you can't have one of us without the other." His boyish grin had never won over any of the people he had tried it on in the past, and it was doing nothing for Edward either. As much as I wanted to stick with Edward's sentiment, I knew that Mike was kind of right. He wasn't going anywhere, and he belonged with us more than he did the humans.

"I hate to admit it, but if we want to keep seeing each other, then you're going to have to deal with him eventually. He really has been there with me through a lot of stress, granted he caused most of it." Mike's grin got even bigger, which matched proportionately to Edward's scowl. At my words Mike forced me to scoot my chair closer to Edward so that he could squeeze in on my other side.

As Edward's breath hit my neck, I momentarily thought that having Mike sit with us wasn't so bad, then he began talking, "Funfetti Cake! My favorite!" Mike leaned across the table to grab the small cafeteria cake off Rosalie's tray, causing her to lean back so far if she had been human, she would have toppled out of her chair.

"You don't mind, right? It's not like you can eat it anyway." The words came out of his mouth as naturally as asking someone about the weather.

"Take it, just don't touch me! I don't want my soul to get accidentally _popped out_!" Rosalie's statement caused Mike to nearly choke on the stolen piece of cake.

"Haven't you told them anything, Bells?" Without waiting for an answer, Mike turned right towards Rose, addressing her without even realizing how close she most likely was to killing him. "Only people on the list can get popped. Watch." With that he reached out and touched Alice who had obviously not seen it coming. Perhaps their supernatural gifts weren't so powerful after all.

Alice growled and wiped her hand off. Mike went right back to explaining popping to Rose, "See, nothing."

"I don't like this, for all we know this could be some kind of a trick to wipe us all out of existence. Has anyone even bothered to realize it's been months since we heard from the Denalis."

"They're vacationing in Italy," Mike's quick reply confirmed something I had suspected during each of our visits to Alaska, even though he denied it furiously.

"You're still hung up on Tanya, aren't you?"

"No! It was one time and it didn't mean anything."

"For her maybe. You can fool yourself, but you can't fool me, Mike, like you said before we've been together a long time."

"She killed me," Mike huffed.

"So you popped back, and with a stupid grin on your face if I remember correctly."

"Bella this is not the place to be having this conversation, and I am not still hung up on her. I mean was never... I was never hung up on her." The reddening in his cheeks told the truth. It took all my willpower not to start laughing. I knew Kate would never gossip about where her vamp was, I'd have to check later to see if Garrett was Mike's source of spying on the second vampire to ever kill him.

A buzzing from my pocket drove all thoughts about Mike and his hypocritical ways out of my head. No one had been given my new number yet, but I had no doubt that this message was from someone who didn't need it. With a quick swipe to unlock the screen I saw the picture text message. A post. Mike's hand covered the screen, causing me to realize that Edward was trying to look at it. Edward looked from my phone to Jasper and I knew that perhaps this relationship would be harder than I thought.

I didn't even try to object when Mike grabbed my arm and said we needed to get home. It was too much to assume that Edward and the others would let it be though. We weren't even at the truck when five vampires appeared in front of us.

"What is it?" Edward's question held so much more, he knew how this worked I told him all about the post-its. What he really wanted to know, were the details. Details I couldn't give him.

"It's a job," I replied, hoping him and his siblings would move.

Rosalie responded with a tone that suggested she was in charge, "We know that, what we want to know is who."

"She can't tell you that, now move." For once Mike was taking what we did serious.

"We just want to help Jasper, if you tell us what you know we can stop it before it happens." Alice sounded so sincere that I was tempted to hand over my phone, and help them to keep Jasper from killing again. It was my fault, after all, I was the one who had been tempting him to kill for years.

"Do what you want, but she can't help. If you succeed, great, but if she helps you...if Bella tries to stop the appointment..."

Flashes of punishments other reapers had taken from the gravelings flashed through my mind. The story George told about the dozens of people who died because she tried to stop one appointment caused shivers to run down my spine. Mike knew as well as I did the repercussions of interfering where we shouldn't.

It was Edward who spoke next, his eyes sad and his voice begging me to listen to reason, "We're family, we help each other."

My heart broke as I tried shook my head and attempted to explain that I couldn't help, "Edward, I want to, but I... I can't."

With that, students started to pour out of the cafeteria doors, the Cullens were forced to move so as to not draw suspicion to us all. Mike led me towards the truck before saying one last thing to Edward, "You go protect your family, I have to protect mine."

~~DLY~~

The look of pain that appeared over Edward's face haunted me more than anything else I had ever experienced. I couldn't shake it from my mind. Mike had ranted all the way home about how this was why he never got more involved with Tanya, and how could I ever expect to have a relationship with someone so close to the vampire I popped for.

Charlie must have been tipped off somehow because his cruiser was already in the driveway when I arrived. He had a map out and was working on highlighting a trail to where I would need to go.

"It will take a couple of hours, but we should be there in time." Only one part of his statement really stuck out.

"We?"

"Yeah." The grunted affirmative froze me in place. Edward was going to kill? That wasn't possible. My inner turmoil must have shown because Charlie, a man of few words, decided to explain, though he looked pale as he did it.

"The human victim, Bree Tanner, well...the reaper coming to pop her soul was arrested for trespassing a few counties from here. I'm trying to get him released, but he won't be here in time. So she got assigned to me." Selfishly, I felt better knowing Jasper would be killing another vampire and not a human. Now the Cullens might not be so upset with me about not sharing who the victim was; perhaps Edward would even like my new body.

Yep, that was the perfect thought to have before letting your boyfriend's brother watch you get murdered a second time. At what point had my life become so twisted?

"The trail starts here, I'm afraid this is as far as we can drive." Charlie slipped his keys in the visor, knowing I might not be the only one getting a new look, and finding old bodies to dig out keys was never fun. Watching him do that reminded me to empty my pockets so that I wouldn't be forced to ruin yet another phone.

With everything left in the car behind us, we began our trip, and I began to wonder if Edward would ever be able to really accept what I am. If we continued down this path, if we let our feelings control our relationship, he would have to. He would have to let me have my secrets, or else I was sure there would inevitably be consequences.

After the first half hour into our trip, I decided that I hated Forks, Washington. Mud was caked to my shoes, droplets of water came down from leaves that had previously supported them hitting my scalp and face at random moments, and the so called trail was harder to follow than a child giving directions. If Edward didn't forgive me, then I decided then and there I would take the next plane to Hawaii. I'd have to ask Jasper and Alice to go, too, but Alice might enjoy Hawaii, during the night of course, and Jasper, well...he kinda owed me. I mean, I followed him for nearly a century, it was his turn to follow me!

Nearly an hour after my decision to leave for Hawaii, I realized how ridiculous my mind was getting. I didn't have a choice but to follow Jasper. He, on the other hand, could do whatever he wanted, though if Hawaii wasn't an option, I was determined to convince Alice she wanted to go back to Paris, any place had to be better than Forks...and Alaska, I did not need or want to go back there again.

Finally, when I had decided that obviously the Cullens knew all about us this whole time, and chose to live in Forks just to torment me, we arrived near the end of the trail. Charlie was steps ahead of me as we entered the vacant field to deal with the jerk of a vampire who couldn't kill this girl in an easier place to get to, like my front yard. My shoes felt thirty pounds heavier as I uselessly attempted to wipe the mud off them and onto the damp grass that filled the open hilltop while I waited for Riley to appear. Right as I realized I was going to have to give up, she came running out.

She was a child, fourteen, maybe fifteen years old. She must have been hiking, judging by her clothes and the smile on her face. When she saw us, she came right for us with a wave and a smile that showed she had no clue this would be her last day.

"Hey! Isn't it a beautiful day?" For a moment I felt bad for her, she seemed so happy. "Ohh, did you get stuck in the mud? You have to be careful where you step when exploring the woods."

Okay, so I didn't feel too bad for her. Charlie offered her his hand with a gruff 'nice to meet you' before saying he would be right back. His part was done. With that brief moment of contact she would be able to move on just as happy and perfect as she looked at that moment. Bree began to tell me about her family traveling through Forks after a quick introduction but froze the moment his voice sounded from a mere foot away.

"Two for the price of one, excellent." The sound was cold and hungry, it was that of a typical vampire.

He had us each in his arms and his teeth sank into Bree's neck, draining her before she could even attempt to figure out what had just happened. I knew I was next. My fingers ghosted his cheek as his teeth broke through my skin, like a knife through butter. It was only a moment later when I knew something was wrong. Instead of appearing a good distance away with a new body, I appeared only feet away and felt odd. I stood standing, watching, as if in slow motion, when Edward and Jasper appeared out of the tree line. Jasper seemed intent on killing Riley, the anger in him was like none I had ever seen before, it was as if the anger was not his own.

Jasper ran right at me, too fast for me to move, only instead of hitting me, he ran right through me, as if I was a mere ghost. Edward stood seething behind him, watching as Jasper tore Riley limb by limb. Jasper took Riley apart so fast, if the world had not been going in slow motion, I wouldn't have seen it at all. Then Edward built a fire and together they destroyed him.

I ran straight for Edward, calling his name, willing him to calm down and realize everything was fine, but he never looked at me. Instead he searched the tree line and called out my name. It was then I realized he couldn't see me.

Panic filled my chest, and I cried out for the only other person who would be able to see me, "Charlie!"

He came running out of the tree line, but was stopped by Edward. Almost as soon as Edward stopped him, both men looked at me, but unlike Charlie, I could tell that Edward didn't see me.

"How can you see her and I can't?" Edward asked softly as he got as close to me as possible without walking through me.

"I think it's time for both of you to accept that it's her time," Charlie answered, bringing forth more questions that he was answering.

"Time for what, Charlie?" I asked, but my voice sounded wrong, as if it was growing fainter.

I didn't have to see Charlie's finger pointing to know what was behind me, a part of me had known they were coming. Still, I never could have prepared for what it would look like when it was my time. As I turned to see the lights, my light, I recognized it instantly; it was the pond. The pond where I escaped that day, so long ago. The one that I felt free at. The water looked so inviting, and the grass just as soft as it had when I had my first taste of freedom.

**E/N- Epilogue will be up tomorrow. **


	15. The Story of Our Epilogue

**A/N- Thank you all so much for taking this journey will Cella and I. We had a great time writing this, even if it did take a couple years to finish. LOL.  
**

**A big thanks to my writing partner CellaCullen and to our wonderful Beta Acrosstheskysinstars and for the first few chapters Lyricalkris as well. (Who has a new original book coming out soon called Duplicity which I am stoked for so make sure you watch for it.)**

**Chapter 14-  
**_**The Story of our epilogue**_

Edward Cullen

Time is relative. To a fly, five minutes might seem like an eternity in relation to its lifespan. For a vampire, five minutes goes by all too quickly, or at least in normal circumstances that would be the case.

It had been five minutes since Bella disappeared, and my only view of her was through Charlie's eyes. When Jasper had realized what was happening, that it was his kill that had set her free, he was wrought with guilt.

"Just go," I told him, not wanting his thoughts of her leaving mixed in with my own.

I watched the spot where she was, my eyes seeing nothing but Charlie's thoughts putting her there in my mind, staring back at me. I could see the lights, the tranquil pond behind her, and I knew the right thing to do.

"Bella," I said. "It's okay. I know it's time for you to go." I took a step closer, using Charlie's eyesight to put me right in front of her.

"Edward," she replied, and then glanced over at the lights behind her. Her eyes were wet with tears as she got ready to say goodbye.

"I will always love you, Isabella Swan. And now I know what my future has in store. When I die, you will be there, waiting in my lights. You are my heaven, Bella."

A sob came from her tiny frame and my eyes flickered as I watched her lights dimming.

"You have to go now," I said, wanting anything but that.

She gave a nod, slowly turned, and walked towards the lights. She paused right before stepping into them and turned, running back toward me. The lights dimmed and disappeared immediately, her body becoming corporeal as she leapt into the air and wrapped her arms around me.

"Bella," I said, almost panicked. "What have you done?"

She slid down my body and landed on the ground, her hands coming up to cup my face. "I chose my heaven."

Our lips met and I could see Charlie smiling out of the corner of my eye as he headed off into the bush.

~~DLY~~

Bella had done the unthinkable for me. We had no idea if she would get another shot at her lights. After she refused hers, Riley's showed up and he went into them easily. Bella kept teasing me, telling me it was just her contract being renewed, but the thought made me worry. She assured me if my lights ever appeared that she was chasing me into them.

"That's a big commitment," I taunted back, but there was nothing but love in my tone. Bella had chosen me, and there was no ring that needed to be on her finger to prove that commitment, although I still planned to put one there some day.

Bella looked entirely new again, and for the first time, she had come back as something other than a brunette. Her new reddish locks and freckled skin was a drastic change to everyone but me, I would forever see her heart-shaped face and pouty lips.

She gave up on high school for the time being. After filling out the paperwork to have 'Bella' transferred, we all decided it was too suspicious to introduce another new student. It's not as if she needed the classes, she'd been through high school enough times. Wanting to keep a low profile, she stayed at our home, and our times were spent together talking and hiking and often kissing.

I kept my promise to her and didn't move too quickly. I brought her flowers, took her on dates, in Seattle-it was too suspicious to go anywhere near home-although she seemed to think it was because I wanted to spoil her with nicer things. We were both correct. I wanted her to have every dating experience she could have, after all, I didn't plan on ever letting her go.

Bella fit into our family easily, Carlisle welcoming her like another daughter and Esme ecstatic to have someone in the house to cook for constantly. Rosalie had warmed up to her after learning she wasn't really a regular human, although she still couldn't understand why she'd picked me instead of the lights.

Jasper, after me, was the happiest to see Bella walk in that day we came back from the woods.

"I'm never killing anything again," he'd vowed, "not even a fly."

Bella had laughed at him. "Kill all the flies you want, and snakes and spiders, those aren't my department. Animals have their own reapers, children."

"Children?" Rose had asked, her body language changing from disinterested to engaged.

Bella had explained about the children reapers and specifically Nessie. Rose had wanted to meet her immediately and fell in love instantly. The feeling was mutual. Nessie was fascinated by Rose, following her around eagerly when she wasn't working. Rose would even claim days of fasting when she could take Nessie shopping and the rest of the us were not allowed to eat. It didn't always work, as there were more things than our family that brought about the death of a beast.

It was meant to be, because even when our family had to move again eventually, Nessie's assignments followed us. There was a divine plan at work and before we knew it, Nessie was a bona fide part of our family.

~~DLY~~

"Edward, I'm tired," Bella said, yawning and batting my hand away.

"Did I ever tell you how unfortunate I find it that you have to sleep?"

"I just want to finish and go to sleep," she replied.

"You'll finish faster if you let me help," I offered with a chuckle.

She shot me a glare and angled her body so I could no longer see the puzzle she was working on. "If I don't do it myself, then there was no point in ever starting on it."

"You've been working on it for hours," I grumbled, wanting her attention after several hours of being ignored.

We had been living just outside of Vancouver for a year already and I couldn't believe how the time had flown. Bella and I had decided to take college courses,we knew it meant we likely couldn't stay as long because we were starting out older than normal, but it was worth it to avoid high school for a few more years.

I took some pre med classes, wanting to see if I could possibly follow Carlisle's footsteps one day. It turned out that I just didn't enjoy it. I had been serious so long that I think it was time to expand my horizons. I majored in music, and Bella took some literature classes. We enjoyed it, but with homework, Bella's time was a lot more limited than I would have liked.

"Okay, I'm done, take me to bed," Bella said, getting up and wrapping her arms around my neck from behind, leaning down to kiss my neck.

True to our word, we had progressed slowly, going on dates, exchanging kisses and then a little more. We had agreed to wait until marriage to have sex, it was the way we were both raised and it was something we could give each other as a gift on our wedding night. But after a year, it seemed Bella was much more patient than I was after all.

The ring had been burning a hole in my pocket for weeks, waiting for just the right moment. I tried to plan out an elaborate evening, but I knew Bella well enough to know that is not exactly what she would want. At heart she was a simple girl that just wanted to be loved, and I was the perfect man for her because all I wanted to do was love her.

After she was in bed and fast asleep against my chest, I pulled out the ring out and rolled it between my fingers. I looked down at her hand laying over my heart and I smiled, slipping the ring onto her finger. She murmured softly in her sleep and then settled down. I looked at the ring, the one my mother had worn, oval with rows of slanted diamonds, glittering perfectly even in the dark on the hand of my true love. I couldn't wait for her to wake up and say yes.

~~DLY~~

The wedding happened six months later; Charlie gave Bella away and Mike cried the hardest. Rosalie smiled like a proud mama as Nessie threw flowers along the carpeted ground. But even with my perfect memory, all I remembered was the way Bella looked as she walked down the aisle.

A vision in a vintage white dress, the woman who would be my wife took practiced steps toward me, stumbling on the last one. I smiled at her and radiance shone through her face, beaming up at me as we took hands.

All too quickly the vows were spoken and a kiss was exchanged, and the moment I had waited several lifetimes for was over, and yet I never knew how exquisite the moments to follow would be. Better than slipping a ring on her finger was dancing our first dance, and better than dancing was bidding our families farewell as we made our way to a rented cabin in the woods.

If I could have trembled, my hands would have shook as I unzipped her gown. I was certain that nothing would be better than this moment. The anticipation of this moment had been building and I found myself lost in the exposed skin of my new wife.

"Edward?" Bella asked softly.

"Yes?" I replied.

"You've been staring at me for three minutes. Are you going to touch me?"

My eyes moved up to meet hers. "I am definitely going to touch you now."

My hands encompassed her waist, pulling her close to me as I leaned down and joined our lips. She tasted faintly like lip gloss and and the chicken she'd had at the meal, but most of all she tasted like Bella, the woman I was going to spend the rest of my existence with.

I felt her hands unbuttoning my shirt, my jacket already had been discarded when we retreated to the cottage. Her fingers were unsteady but she moved quickly to peel the garment from me.

I heard her intake of breath just as her eyes hit my chest and I felt pride that the sight of my bare chest could still entice her.

"I'm so glad we waited," she said softly as her hands ran up my chest. "I wasn't sure at first, but this is perfect. I get it. This is the way it's supposed to be."

Her words made me more ravenous than any action. My arms enfolded her quickly and with vampiric speed we were on the bed and my new wife was giggling underneath me.

"Why, Mr. Cullen. Who is impatient now?" she teased but her eyes echoed my hunger.

"Mrs. Cullen, the time for patience is over."

Our lips met, then our hands and finally our bodies. The soft cry of her barrier being broken was soon gone and we began to move together. Each breath seemed synchronized in a perfect ballet of love. Every curve of our bodies fit, locking us together and fusing us into one. Her soft, warm breath fell on my shoulder as I moved above her.

Bella's body created enough heat to make my chilled one feel warm, a task only a very warm shower had ever accomplished. I knew it wasn't my own heat; I couldn't produce any, but she was giving me hers and it felt decadent.

Her body was so sensitive, soft moans erupted from her, her body twitching, and I felt lost in the pleasure of it, until she began to whimper, causing concern. I raised my lips from her neck and met her eyes.

"Edward," she panted. "You don't need to make up for a hundred years tonight. I'm not sure I can take much more."

Up until that moment, my attention had been on her, but quickly it shifted with her words. My body was hasty to reach its release once I gave it full attention. After over a hundred years being dead, with my eyes locked on Bella's, I finally lived.

**E/N- This story was never meant to be about lemons, but about Bella's journey in the reaper life…that being said I don't like angry mobs and pitchforks so I squeezed a little for you guys here. It's only fitting since Jasper and Alice did get their lemon.**

**Thank you again for reading and I hope you'll keep me on author alert as I have another fic in the works and should start posting it in the fall (Probably after FAGE). **

**If you don't know what FAGE is, then you haven't been reading my A/N and you probably won't now, LOL, but here it goes. It is a fic gift exchange. There are 5 different fandoms available this time for writing in. You choose your fandom and your prompt, then those are given to someone to write a story for you. You receive someone elses prompts (IN the fandom and pairing of your choice) and you write for them. **

**We also love beta's and banner makers, so if you want to get involved, come stop by Fanficaholics Anon: Where Obsession Never Sleeps on facebook or friend me Tiffany Vampmama Phan Fikshun and I will get you there. **

**Till next time. **


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